THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

ENDOWED  BY 

JOHN  SPRUNT  HILL 

CLASS  OF  1889 


G326 

J67 

c.4 


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*£*  ^4ft^g#x^ftBP^gffi{ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00022386268 


This  book  may  be  kept  out  one  month  unless  a  recall 
notice  is  sent  to  you.  It  must  be  brought  to  the  North 
Carolina  Collection  (in  Wilson  Library)  for  renewal. 


IfcilS  IilLE Jb&S  BEEN  MICROFILMED 


Form  No.  A-369 


J\5<^r  j^7^-^[j^<s&3&:  ^v.:/7jiiiiBsjB«BeKay'B«sr    >->*  ~  .=er> 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


Negro  Race  in  America, 

FROM    1619  TO    1890, 

WITH  A  SHORT  INTRODUCTION 

AS    TO 

'   THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  RACE; 

ALSO   A 

SHORT  SKETCH  OF   LIBERIA. 


BY 

BDWARP  A.  JOHNSON,    L.   B., 

Principal  of  the  Washington  School, 
RALEIGH,  N.  C. 


FIRST  EDITION. 
1890. 


RALEIGH  : 
Edwards  &  Broughton,  Printers  and  Binders. 

1890. 


Satered  Ac«nihs.£  u  i.,i  W     « 

tS      .  A-  JOv,    -  -  •• 
:.,  Office  of  tW  Libyan  u  ci  Coug  **,  at  *Mhtog«£ 


PREFACE. 

To  the  many  thousand  colored  teachers  in  our 
country  is  this  book  dedicated.  During  my  expe- 
rience of  eleven  years  as  a  teacher,  I  have  often  felt 
that  the  children  of  the  race  ought  to  study  some 
work  that  would  give  them  a  little  information  on 
the  many  brave  deeds  and  noble  characters  of  their 
own  race.  I  have  often  observed  the  sin  of  omis- 
sion and  commission  on  the  part  of  white  authors, 
most  of  whom  seem  to  have  written  exclusively  for 
white  children,  and  studiously  left  out  the  many 
creditable  deeds  of  the  Negro.  The  general  tone  of 
most  of  the  histories  taught  in  our  schools  has  been 
that  of  the  inferiority  of  the  Negro,  whether 
actually  said  in  so  many  words,  or  left  to  be  implied 
from  the  highest  laudation  of  the  deeds  of  one  race 
to  the  complete  exclusion  of  those  of  the  other.  It 
must,  indeed,  be  a  stimulus  to  any  people  to  be  able 
to  refer  to  their  ancestors  as  distinguished  in  deeds 
of  valor,  and  peculiarly  so  to  the  colored  people. 
But  how  must  the  little  colored  child  feel  when  he 
has  completed  the  assigned  course  of  U.  S.  History 
and  in  it  found  not  one  word  of  credit,  not  one  word 
of  favorable  comment  for  even  one  among  the  mil- 
lions of  his  foreparents  who  have  lived  through 


Preface. 

nearly  three  centuries  of  his  country's  history ! 
The  Negro  is  hardly  given  a  passing  notice  in  many 
of  the  histories  taught  in  the  schools ;  he  is  credited 
with  no  heritage  of  valor;  he  is  mentioned  only  as 
a  slave,  while  true  historical  records  prove  him  to 
have  been  among  the  most  patriotic  of  patriots, 
among  the  bravest  of  soldiers,  and  constantly  a 
God-fearing,  faithful  producer  of  the  nation's  wealth. 
Though  a  slave  to  this  government,  his  was  the 
first  blood  shed  in  its  defense  in  those  days  when  a 
foreign  foe  threatened  its  destruction.  In  each  of 
the  American  wars  the  Negro  was  faithful — yes, 
faithful  to  a  land  not  his  own  in  point  of  rights  and 
freedom,  but,  indeed,  a  land  that,  after  he  had  shoul- 
dered his  musket  to  defend,  rewarded  him  with  a 
renewed  term  of  slavery.  Patriotism  and  valor 
under  such  circumstances  possess  a  peculiar  merit 
and  beauty.  But  such  is  the  truth  of  history;  and 
may  I  not  hope  that  the  study  of  this  little  work 
by  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  race  will  inspire  in 
them  a  new  self-respect  and  confidence.  Much,  of 
course,  will  depend  on  you,  dear  teachers,  into 
whose  hands  I  hope  to  place  this  book.  By  your 
efforts  and  those  of  the  children,  you  are  to  teach, 
from  the  truth  of  history,  that  complexions  do  not 
govern  patriotism,  valor  and  sterling  integrity. 
My  endeavor  has  been  to  shorten  this  work  as 


Preface.  5  V 


much  as  I  thought  consistent  with  clearness.  Per- 
sonal opinions  and  comments  have  been  kept  out. 
A  fair,  impartial  statement  has  been  my  aim.  Facts 
are  what  I  have  tried  to  give  without  bias  or  preju- 
dice, and  may  not  something  herein  said  hasten  on 
that  day  when  the  race  for  which  these  facts  are 
written,  following  the  example  of  the  noble  men 
and  women  who  have  gone  before,  level  themselves 
up  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  all  that  is  noble  in 
human  nature. 

I  respectfully  request  that  my  fellow-teachers 
will  see  to  it  that  the  word  Negro  is  written  with  a 
capital  N.  It  deserves  to  be  so  enlarged  and  will 
help,  perhaps,  to  magnify  the  race  it  stands  for  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  see  it. 

E.  A.  J. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/schoolhistoryofnjohn 


INDEX. 


CHAPTER. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 
XIX. 


PAGE. 

Introduction 7 

Beginning  of  Slavery  in  the  Colonies,  14 

The  New  York  Colony 20 

Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut   22 

New  Hampshire  and  Maryland 31 

Delaware  and  Pennsylvania 37 

North  Carolina 38 

South  Carolina 41 

Georgia 43 

Habits  and  Customs  of  the  Southern 

Colonies 49 

Negro      Soldiers     in      Revolutionary 

Times 52 

Negro  Heroes  of  the  Revolution 60 

The  War  of  1812 71 

Efforts  for  Freedom 77 

Liberia 81 

Frederick  Douglass 83 

Nat.  Turner  and  Others  who  Struck 

for  Freedom 87 

Anti-Slavery  Agitation 95 

Examples   of    Underground    Railroad 

Work   98 


194 


INDEX. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XX.     Slave  Population  of  i860 99 

XXI.      The  War  of  the  Rebellion 100 

XXII.      Employment  of  Negro  Soldiers 106 

XXIII.  Fort  Pillow  116 

XXIV.  Around  Petersburg 120 

XXV.      The  Crater ,__  „_ 124 

XXVI.      Incidents  of  the  War  --~--..r,  --  .. 129 

XXVII.  The  End  of  the  War.  — 1  .--ll-.  v—-  -  133 

XXVIII.-  ■ -Reconstruction— i865~'68 ■.'_. 136 

XXIX.      Progress  Since  Freedom r_„ 140 

XXX.      Religious  Progress - , 144 

XXXI.      Educational  Progress  -__-_ 153 

XXXII.      Financial  Progress _. . 160 

XXXIII.  Some  Noted  Negroes^-.---  --^-,r-  --  165 

XXXIV.  FreePeopleof  Color  in  North  Carolina,  186 

XXXV.      Conclusion.^. 1 192 


A  SCHOOL  HISTORY 


NEGRO  RACE  IN  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 


The  Origin  of  the  Negro  is  definitely  known. 
Some  very  wise  men,  writing  to  suit  prejudiced  read- 
ers, have  endeavored  to  assign  the  race  to  a  separate 
creation  and  deny  its  kindred  with  Adam  and  Eve. 
But  historical  records  prove  the  Negro  as  ancient 
as  the  most  ancient  races — for  5,000  years  into  the 
dim  past  mention  is  made  of  the  Negro  race.  The 
Pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  great  temples  on  the  Nile, 
were  either  built  by  Negroes  or  people  closely  rela- 
ted to  them.  All  the  science  and  learning  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  was  once  in  the  hands  of  the 
foreparents  of  the  American  slaves.  They  are, 
then,  descendants  of  a  race  of  people  once  the  most 
powerful  on  earth,  the  race  of  the  Pharaohs.  His- 
tory, traced  from  the  flood,  makes  the  three  sons  of 
Noah,  Ham,  Shem  and  Japheth,  the  progenitors  of 
the  three  primitive  races  of  the  earth — the  Mongo- 
lian, descended  from  Shem  and  settled  in  Southern 


8  A  School  History  of  the 

and  Eastern  Asia ;  the  Caucasian,  descended  from 
Japheth  and  settled  in  Europe;  the  Ethiopian, 
descended  from  Ham  and  settled  in  Africa  and 
adjacent  countries.  From  Ham  undoubtedly  sprung 
the  Egyptians  who,  in  honor  of  Ham,  their  great 
head,  named  their  principal  <go><iHammon  or  Ammon. 

Ham  was  the  father  of  Canaan,  from  whom 
descended  the  powerful  Canaanites  so  troublesome 
to  the  Jews.  Cus/i,  the  oldest  son  of  Ham,  was  the 
father  of  Nirnrod,  "the  mighty  one  in  the  earth" 
and  founder  of  the  Babylonian  Empire.  Nimrod's 
son  built  the  unrivalled  City  of  Nineveh  in  the 
picturesque  valley  of  the  Tigress.  Unless  the 
Bible  statement  be  false  that  "  God  created  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the 
earth"  and  the  best  historians  have  erred,  then  the 
origin  of  the  Negro  is  high  enough  to  merit  his 
proudest  boasts  of  the  past,  and  arouse  his  grandest 
hopes  for  the  future. 

The  Present  Condition  of  the  African  is  the  result 
of  the  fall  of  the  Egyptian  empire,  which  was  in 
accord  with  the  Bible  prophecj^  of  all  nations  who 
forgot  God  and  worshipped  idols.  That  the  Afri- 
cans were  once  a  great  people  is  shown  by  their 
natural  love  for  the  fine  arts.  They  are  poetic  by 
nature,  and  national  airs  sung  long  ago  by  explor- 
ing parties  in  Central  Africa  are  still  held  by  them, 


Negro  Race  in  America.  9 

and  strike  the  ears  of  more  modern  travellers  with 
joy  and  surprise. 

Ancient  Cities  Discovered  in  the  very  heart  of 
Africa,  having  well  laid  off  streets,  improved  wharfs, 
and  conveniences  for  trade,  connect  these  people 
with  a  better  condition  in  the  past  than  now.  While 
many  of  the  native  Africans  are  desperately  savage, 
yet  in  their  poor,  degraded  condition  it  is  the  unani- 
mous testimony  of  missionaries  and  explorers  that 
many  of  these  people  have  good  judgment,  some 
tribes  have  written  languages,  and  show  skill  in 
weaving  cloth,  smelting  and  refining  gold  andiron 
and  making  implements  of  war. 

Their  Wonderful  regard  for  truth  and  virtue  is  sur- 
prising, and  fixes  a  great  gulf  between  them  and 
other  savage  peoples.  They  learn  rapidly,  and, 
unfortunately,  it  is  too  often  the  case  that  evil 
teaching  is  given  them  by  the  vile  traders  who  fre- 
quent their  country  with  an  abundance  of  rum, 
mouths  full  of  cursee,  and  the  worst  of  bad  English. 

Long  Years  Spent  in  the  most  debilitating  climate  on 
earth  and  violation  of  divine  law,  made  the  African 
what  he  was  when  the  slave  trade  commenced  in 
the  1 6th  century.  But  his  condition  was  not  so 
bad  that  he  could  not  be  made  a  good  citizen.  Nay, 
he  was  superior  to  the  ancient  savage  Briton  whom 
Caesar  found  in  England  and  described  as  unfitted 


io  A  School  History  of  the 

to  make  respectable  slaves  of  in  the  Roman  Empire. 
The  Briton  has  had  eighteen  centuries  to  be  what  he 
is,  the  Negro  has  had  really  but  twenty-five  years. 
Let  us  weigh  his  progress  in  just  balances. 

SOME  QUOTATIONS  FROM  LEADING  WRITERS  ON 
THE   NEGRO. 

"The  Sphinx  may  have  been  the  shrine  of  the 
Negro  population  of  Egypt,  who,  as  a  people,  were 
unquestionably  under  our  average  size.  Three 
million  Buddhists  in  Asia  represent  their  chief 
deity,  Buddha,  with  Negro  features  and  hair. 
There  are  two  other  images  of  Buddha,  one  at 
Ceylon  and  the  other  at  Calause,  of  which  Lieu- 
tenant Mahoney  says :  '  Both  these  statues  agree 
in  having  crisped  hair  and  long,  pendant  ear- 
rings.' " — Morton. 

"The  African  is  a  man  with  every  attribute  of 
humankind.  Centuries  of  barbarism  have  had  the 
same  hurtful  effects  on  Africans  as  Pritchard 
describes  them  to  have  had  on  certain  of  the  Irish 
who  were  driven,  some  generations  back,  to  the 
hills  in  Ulster  and  Connaught" — the  moral  and 
physical  effect  are  the  same. 

"  Ethnologists  reckon  the  African  as  by  no  means 
the  ,  lowest  of  the  human  family.     He  is  nearly  as 


Negro  Race  in  America.  n 

strong  physically  as  the  European  ;  and,  as  a  race, 
is  wonderfully  persistent  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  Neither' the  diseases  nor  the  ardent  spirits 
which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  North  American 
Indians,  the  South  Sea  Islanders  and  Australians, 
seem  capable  of  annihilating  the  Negroes.  They 
are  gifted  with  physical  strength  capable  of  with- 
standing the  severest  privations.  Many  would 
pine  away  in  a  state  of  slavery.  No  Krooman  can 
be  converted  into  a  slave,  and  yet  he  is  an  inhabit- 
ant of  the  low,. unhealthy  west  coast;  nor  can  any 
of  the  Zulu  or  Kaffir  tribe  be  reduced  to  bondage, 
though  all  these  live  in  comparatively  elevated 
regions.  We  have  heard  it  stated  by  men  familiar 
with  some  of  the  Kaffirs,  that  a  blow  given,  even 
in  play,  by  a  European,  must  be  returned.  A  love 
of  liberty  is  observable  in  all  who  have  the  Zulu 
blood,  as  the  Makololo,  the  Watuta.  But  blood 
does  not  explain  the  fact.  A  beautiful  Barotse 
woman  at  Naliele,  on  refusing  to  marry  a  man 
whom  she  did  not  like,  was  in  a  pet  given  by  the 
headman  to  some  Mambari  slave  traders  from  Ben- 
guela.  Seeing  her  fate,  she  seized  one  of  their 
spears,  and,  stabbing  herself,  fell  dead." — Living- 
stone's  Works. 

"In  ancient  times  the  blacks  were  known  to  be 
so  gentle  to  strangers  that  many  believed  tliat  the 


12  A  School  History  of  the 

gods  sprang  from  them.  Homer  sings  of  the  ocean, 
father  of  the  gods;  and  says  that  when  Jupiter 
wishes  to  take  a  holiday,  he  visits  the  sea,  and  goes 
to  the  banquets  of  the  blacks, — a  people  humble, 
courteous  and  devout." 

THE   CURSE   OF   NOAH    WAS    NOT    DIVINE  ! 

The  following  passage  of  scripture  has  been  much  quoted  as  an  argument  to 
prove  the  inferiority  of  the  Negro  race.  The  Devil  can  quote  scripture  but  not 
always  correctlv  :  "And  Noah  began  to  be  an  husbandman  and  he  planted  a  vine- 
yard :  and  he  drank  of  the  wine,  and  was  drunken  and  was  uncovered  in  his  tent, 
and  Ham,  the  father  of  Canaan,  saw  the  nakedness  of  his  father,  and  told  his  two 
brethren  without,  and  Shem  and  Japheth  took  a  garment  and  laid  it  upon  both 
their  shoulders,  and  went  backward  and  covered  the  nakedness  of  their  father; 
and  their  faces  were  backward,  and  they  saw  not  their  father's  nakedness,  and 
Noah  awoke  from  his  wine,  and  knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done  unto  him, 
and  he  said,  cursed  be  Canaan  ;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren. 
And  he  said  :  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Shem,  and  Canaan  shall  be  his  servant. 
God  shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem,  and  Canaan 
shall  be  his  servant." 

After  the  flood  Noah's  mission  as  a  preacher  to  the  people  was  over.  He  so 
recognized  it  himself,  and  settled  himself  down  with  his  family  on  a  vineyard.  He 
got  drunk  of  the  wine  he  made  and  disgracefully  lay  in  nakedness;  on  awaking 
from  his  drunken  stupor  and  learning  of  Ham's  acts,  he  in  rage  speaks  his  feelings 
to  Canaan,  Ham's  son.  He  was  in  bad  temper  at  this  time,  and  spoke  as  one  in 
such  a  temper  in  those  times  naturally  would  speak.  To  say  he  was  uttering 
God's  will  would  be  a  monstrosity —would  be  to  drag  the  sacred  words  of  prophecy 
through  profane  lips,  and  make  God  speak  His  will  to  men  out  of  the  mouth  of  a 
drunkard,  of  whom  the  holy  writ  says  none  can  enter  the  kingdom.  A  drunken 
prophet  strikes  the  mind  with  ridicule  !  Yet,  such  was  Noah,  if  at  all — and  such 
the  character  of  that  prophet,  whom  biased  minds  have  chosen  as  the  expounder 
of  a  curse  on  the  Negro  race.  It  is  not  strange  that  so  few  people  have  championed 
the  curse  theory  of  the  race,  when  we  think  that  in  so  doing  they  must  at  the  same 
time  endorse  Noah's  drunkenness. 

But,  aside  from  this,  the  so-called  prophecy  of  Noah  has  not  become  true.  The 
best  evidence  of  a  prophecy  is  its  fulfillment.  Canaan's  descendants  have  often 
conquered,  though  Noah  said  the}-  would  not.  Goodrich  makes  the  Canaanites,  so 
powerful  in  the  fortified  cities  of  Ai  and  Jericho,  the  direct  descendants  of  Canaan. 
They  were  among  the  most  powerful  people  of  olden  times.  They  and  their  kin- 
dred built  up  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  the  mother  of  the  alphabet,  and  Nineveh  and 
Babylon  the  two  most  wonderful  of  ancient  cities.  The  Jews,  God's  chosen  people, 
were  enslaved  by  the  kindred  of  Canaan  both  in  Egypt  and  Babylon.  Melchizedek 


Negro  Race  in  America.  13 


(King  of  Righteousness),  a  sacred  character  of  the  Old  Testament,  was  a  Canaan  it  e. 
So,  rather  than  being-  a  race  of  slaves  as  Noah  predicted,  the  Canaanitish  people 
have  been  the  greatest  people  of  the  earth.  The  great  nations  of  antiquity  were  in 
and  around  Eastern  Africa  and  Western  Asia  in  which  is  located  Mt.  Ararat  sup- 
posed to  be  the  spot  on  which  the  ark  rested  after  the  flood.  These  nations  sprang 
from  the  four  sons  of  Ham— Cush,  Mizarim,  Phut  and  Canaan.  The  Cushites  were 
Ethiopians  who  lived  in  Abyssinia.  The  Mizarimites  were  Egyptians  who  lived  in 
Egypt  and  so  distinguished  for  greatness.  The  Canaanites  occupied  the  country 
including  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  stretching  down  into  Arabia  as  far  as  Gaza  and 
including  the  province  of  the  renowned  Queen  of  Sheba. 

In  the  light  of  true  history  the  curse  theory  of  the  Negro  melts  like  snow  under  a 
summer  sun.  We  contend  from  the  above  facts  that  Noah  did  not  utter  a  prophecy 
when  he  spoke  to  Canaan,  and  as  proof  of  that  fact  we  have  quoted  a  few  historical 
facts  to  show  that  if  he  did  make  such  a  prophecy  it  was  not  fulfilled.  We  will  add 
further,  that  the  part  of  the  alleged  prophecy  conferring  blessings  on  Shem  and 
Japheth  has  also  fallen  without  verification,  in  that  the  descendants  of  these  two 
personages  have  more  than  once  been  enslaved. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  in  this  age  of  enlightenment  to  refer  to  the  Curse 
Theory  argued  so  persistently  by  those  who  needed  some  such  argument  as  an 
apology  for  wrong  doing,  but  still  there  are  some  who  still  believe  in  it,  having 
never  cut  loose  from  the  moorings  of  blind  prejudice.  The  Color  Theory  was  also 
quite  popular  formerly  as  an  argument  in  support  of  the  curse  of  Noah.  We  hold 
that  the  color  of  the  race  is  due  to  climatic  influences,  and  in  support  of  this  view 
read  this  quotation  in  reference  to  Africa  :  "As  we  go  westward  we  observe  the 
light  color  predominating  over  the  dark  ;  and  then,  again,  when  we  come  within 
the  influence  of  the  damp  from  the  sea  air,  we  find  the  shade  deepened  into  the 
general  blackness  of  the  coast  population." 

"It  is  well  known  that  the  Biseagan  women  are  shining  white,  the  inhabitants 
of  Granada,  on  the  contrary,  dark,  to  such  an  extent  that  in  this  region  (West 
Europe),  the  pictures  of  the  blessed  Virgin  and  other  saints  are  painted  of  the  same 
color." 

Black  is  no  mark  of  reproach  to  people  who  do  not  worship  white.  The  West 
Indians  in  the  interior  represent  the  devil  as  white.  The  American  Indians  make 
fun  of  the  "paleface"  and  so  does  the  native  African.  People  in  this  country 
have  been  educated  to  believe  in  white  because  all  that  is  good  has  been  ascribed  to 
the  white  race  both  in  pictures  and  words.  God,  the  angels  and  all  the  prophets 
are  pictured  white  and  the  Devil  is  represented  as  black. 


14  A  School  History  of  the 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  SLAVERY  IN  THE 
COLONIES. 

The  first  Negroes  landed  at  Jamestown,  Va.  In 
the  year  1619,  a  Dutch  trading  vessel  being  in  need 
of  supplies  weighed  anchor  at  Jamestown,  and 
exchanged  fourteen  Negroes  for  food  and  supplies. 
The  Jamestown  people  made  slaves  of  these  four- 
teen Negroes,  but  did  not  pass  any  law  to  that  effect 
until  the  year  1662,  when  the  number  of  slaves  in 
the  colony  was  then  nearly  2,000,  most  of  whom 
had  been  imported  from  Africa. 

How  they  were  Employed.  The  Jamestown 
colony  early  discovered  the  profits  of  the  tobacco 
crop,  and  the  Negro  slaves  were  largely  employed 
in  this  industry  where  they  proved  very  profitable. 
They  were  also  enlisted  in  the  militia,  but  could 
not  bear  arms  except  in  defense  of  the  colonists 
against  the  Indians.  The  greater  part  of  the 
manual  labor  of  all  kinds  was  performed  by  the 
slaves. 

The  Slaves  Imported  came  chiefly  from  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.  They  were  crowded  into  the  holds 
of  ships  in  droves,  and  often  suffered  for  food  and 


Negro  Race  in  America.  15 

drink.  Many,  when  opportunity  permitted,  would 
jump  overboard  rather  than  be  taken  from  their 
homes.  Various  schemes  were  resorted  to  by  the 
slave-traders  to  get  possession  of  the  Africans. 
The}'  bought  many  who  had  been  taken  prisoners 
by  stronger  tribes  than  their  own ;  they  stole 
others,  and  some  they  took  at  the  gun  and  pistol's 
mouth. 

Many  of  the  Captives  of  the  slave-traders  sold  in 
this  country  were  from  tribes  possessing  more  or 
less  knowledge  of  the  use  of  tools.  Some  came 
from  tribes  skilled  in  making  gold  and  ivory  orna- 
ments, cloth,  and  magnificent  steel  weapons  of  war. 
The  men  had  been  trained  to  truthfulness,  honest}', 
and  valor,  while  the  women  were  virtuous  even 
unto  death.  While  polygamy  is  prevalent  among 
most  African  tribes,  yet  their  system  of  marrying 
off  the  young  girls  at  an  early  age,  and  thus  put- 
ting them  underthe  guardianship  of  their  husbands, 
is  a  protection  to  them;  and  the  result  is  plainly 
seen  by  travellers  who  testify  positively  to  the 
uprightness  of  the  women. 

The  Ancestors  of  the  American  Negroes,  though 
savage  in  some  respects,  yet  were  not  so  bad  as 
many  people  think.  The  native  African  had  then, 
and  he  has  now,  much  respect  for  what  we  call  law 
and  justice.     This   fact   is    substantiated   by   the 


1 6  A  School  History  of  the 

numerous  large  tribes  existing,  individuals  of  which 
grow  to  be  very  old,  a  thing  that  could  not  happen 
were  there  the  wholesale  brutalism  which  we  are 
sometimes  told  exists.  All  native  Africans  univer- 
sally despise  slavery,  and  even  in  .  Liberia  have  a 
contempt  for  the  colored  people  there  who  were 
once  slaves  in  America. 

The  Jamestown  Slaves  were  doomed  to  servitude 
and  ignorance  both  by  law  and  custom ;  they  were 
not  allowed  to  vote,  and  could  not  be  set  free  even 
by  their  masters,  except  for  "some  meritorious 
service."  Their  religious  instruction  was  of  an 
inferior  order,  and  slaves  were  sometimes  given  to 
the  white  ministers  as  pay  for  their  services. 

The  Free  Negroes  of  Jamestown  were  in  a  simi- 
lar condition  to  that  of  the  slaves.  They  could 
vote  and  bear  arms  in  defence  of  the  colony,  but 
not  for  themselves.  They  were  taxed  to  bear  the 
expenses  of  the  government,  but  could  not  be  edu- 
cated in  the  schools  they  helped  to  build.  Some  of 
them  managed  to  acquire  some  education  and  prop- 
erty. 

The  Negro  Heroes  who  may  have  exhibited  their 
heroism  in  many  a  daring  feat  during  the  early 
history  of  Jamestown  are  not  known.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  there  was  no  record  kept  except  that  of 
the  crimes  of  his  ancestors  in  this  country.    Judg- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  17 

ing,  however,  from  the  records  of  later  years,  we 
may  conclude  that  the  Negro  slave  of  Jamestown 
was  not  without  his  Banneka  or  Blind  Tom.  Cer- 
tainly his  labor  was  profitable  and  may  be  said  to 
have  built  up  the  colony. 

When  John  Smith  became  Governor  of  the  James- 
town colony,  there  were  none  but  white  inhabitants ; 
their  indolent  habits  caused  him  to  make  a  law 
declaring  that  "he  who  would  not  work  should  not 
eat."  Prior  to  this  time  the  colony  had  proved  a 
failure  and  continued  so  till  the  introduction  of  the 
slaves,  under  whose  labor  it  soon  grew  prosperous 
and  recovered  from  its  hardships. 

Thomas  Fuller,  sometimes  called  "the  Virginia 
Calculator,"  must  not  be  overlooked  in  speaking 
of  the  record  of  the  Virginia  Negro.  He  was  stolen 
from  his  home  in  Africa  and  sold  to  a  planter  near 
Alexandria,  Va.  His  genius  for  mathematics  won 
for  him  a  great  reputation.  He  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  such  men  as  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Phila- 
delphia, who,  in  company  with  others,  was  passing 
through  Virginia.  Tom  was  sent  for  by  one  of  the 
company  and  asked,  "how  many  seconds  a  man  of 
seventy  years,  some  odd  months,  weeks  and  days, 
had  lived?"  "He  gave  the  exact  number  in  a 
minute  and  a  half."  The  gentleman  who  ques- 
tioned him  took  his  pen,  and  after  some  figuring 
2 


1 8  A  School  History  of  the 

told  hini  he  must  be  mistaken,  as  the  number  was 
too  great.  "Top,  massa!"  cried  Tom,  "you  hab 
left  out  the  leap  year" — and  sure  enough  Tom  was 
correct. —  Williams. 

The  following  was  published  in  several  news- 
papers when  Thomas  Fuller  died: 

"Died. — Negro  Tom,  the  famous  African  Calcu- 
lator, aged  80  years.  He  was  the  property  of  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Cox,  of  Alexandria.  Tom  was  a  very 
black  man.  He  was  brought  to  this  country  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  and  was  sold  as  a  slave  with  many 
of  his  unfortunate  countrymen.  This  man  was  a 
prodigy ;  though  he  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
he  had  perfectly  acquired  the  use  of  enumeration. 
He  could  give  the  number  of  months,  days,  weeks, 
hours,  minutes  and  seconds  for  any  period  of  time 
that  a  person  chose  to  mention,  allowing  in  his 
calculations  for  all  the  leap  years  that  happened  in 
the  time.  He  would  give  the  number  of  poles, 
yards,  feet,  inches  and  barleycorns  in  a  given  dis- 
tance— say  the  diameter  of  the  earth's  orbit — and  in 
every  calculation  he  would  produce  the  true  answer 
in  less  time  than  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  men 
would  take  with  their  pens.  And  what  was,  per- 
haps, more  extraordinary,  though  interrupted  in 
the  progress  of  his  calculations  and  engaged  in  dis- 
course upon  any  other  subject,  his  operations  were 


Negro  Race  in  America.  19 

not  thereby  in  the  least  deranged.  He  would  go  011 
where  he  left  off,  and  could  give  any  and  all  of  the 
stages  through  which  his  calculations  had  passed. 
Thus  died  Negro  Tom,  this  untaught  arithmetician, 
this  untutored  scholar.  Had  his  opportunities  of 
improvement  been  equal  to  those  of  a  thousand  of 
his  fellowmen,  neither  the  Royal  Society  of  London, 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  nor  even  a  New- 
ton himself  need  have  been  ashamed  to  acknowl- 
edge him  a  brother  in  science." 

How  many  of  his  kind  might  there  have  been 
had  the  people  of  Jamestown  seen  fit  to  give  the 
Negroes  who  came  to  their  shores  a  laborer's  and 
emigrant's  chance,  rather  than  enslaving  them! 
Much  bloodshed  and  dissension  might  thus  have 
been  avoided,  and  the  honor  of  the  nation  never 
besmirched  with  human  bondage. 


20  A  School  History  of  the 

V 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  NEW  YORK  COLONY. 

The  enslavement  of  the  Negro  seems  to  have 
commenced  in  the  New  York  Colony  abont  the 
same  time  as  at  Jamestown.  The  slaves  were  used 
on  the  farms  and  became  so  profitable  that  about 
the  time  the  English  took  the  colony  from  the 
Dutch,  1664,  there  was  a  great  demand  for  slaves, 
and  the  trade  grew  accordingly. 

The  Privileges  of  the  Slaves  in  New  York  were 
for  a  while  a  little  better  than  in  Virginia.  They 
were  taken  into  the  church  and  baptized,  and  no 
law  was  passed  to  prevent  their  getting  an  educa- 
tion. But  the  famous  Wall  Street,  now  the  finan- 
cial center  of  the  New  World,  was  once  the  scene 
of  an  auction  block  where  Indians  and  persons  of 
Negro  descent  were  bought  and  sold.  A  whipping 
boss  was  once  a  characteristic  office  in  New  York 
City. 

The  Riot  of  1712  shows  the  feeling  between  the 
master  and  servant  at  that  time.  The  Negro  popu- 
lation being  excluded  from  schools,  not  allowed  to 
own  land  even  when  free,  and  forbidden  to  "strike 
a  Christian  or  Jew"  in  self-defence,  and  their  testi- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  21 

mony  excluded  from  the  courts,  arose  in  arms  and 
with  the  torch  ;  houses  were  burned  and  many 
whites  killed  before  the  militia  suppressed  them. 
Many  of  the  Negroes  of  New  York  were  free,  and 
many  came  from  the  Spanish  provinces. 


22  A  School  History  of  the 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MASSACHUSETTS,  RHODE  ISLAND  AND 
CONNECTICUT. 

Negro  slavery  existed  in  Massachusetts  as  early 
as  1633.  The  Puritan  fathers  who  carne  to  this 
country  in  search  of  liberty  did  not  hesitate  to  carry 
on  for  more  than  a  century  a  disgraceful  traffic  in 
human  flesh  and  blood.  The  New  England  ships 
of  the  17th  century  brought  cargoes  of  Negroes 
from  the  west  coast  of  Africa  and  the  Barbadoes- 
They  sold  many  of  them  in  New  England  as  well 
as  in  the  Southern  colonies.  In  1764  there  were 
nearly  6,000  slaves  in  Massachusetts,  about  4,000 
in  Rhode  Island  and  the  same  in  Connecticut. 

The  Treatment  of  the  slaves  in  these  colonies  at 
this  time  was  regulated  by  laws  which  classed  them 
as  property,  "being  rated  as  horses  and  hogs." 
They  could  not  bear  arms  nor  be  admitted  to  the 
schools.  They  were  baptized  in  the  churches,  but 
this  did  not  make  them  freemen,  as  it  did  white 
serfs. 

Better  Treatment  was  given  the  slaves  as  the  colo- 
nies grew  older  and  were  threatened  with  wars.  It 
was   thought   that    the    slaves  -might  espouse  the 


Negro  Race  in  America.  23 

cause  of  the  enemy,  and  for  this  reason  some 
leniency  was  shown  them. 

Judge  Samuel  Sewall,  a  Chief  Justice  of  Massa- 
chusetts wrote  a  tract  in  1700  warning  the  people 
of  New  England  against  slavery  and  ill  treatment 
of  Negroes.  He  said:  "Forasmuch  as  Liberty  is 
in  real  value  next  unto  Life,  none  ought  to  part 
with  it  themselves,  or  deprive  others  of  it,  but  upon 
most  mature  consideration." 

Judge  Sewall's  tract  greatly  excited  the  New 
England  people  on  the  subject  of  emancipating 
their  slaves.  "  The  pulpit  and  the  press  were  not 
silent,  and  sermons  and  essays  in  behalf  of  the 
enslaved  Africans  were  continually  making  their 
appearance." 

The  Slaves  Themselves  aroused  by  these  favorable 
utterances  from  friendly  people  made  up  petitions 
which  they  presented  with  strong  arguments  for 
their  emancipation.  A  great  many  slaves  brought 
suits  against  their  masters  for  restraining  them  of 
their  liberty.  In  1774  a  slave  "of  one  Caleb 
Dodge,"  of  Essex  county,  brought  suit  against  his 
master  praying  for  his  liberty.  The  jury  decided 
that  there  was  "no  law  in  the  Province  to  hold  a 
man  to  serve  for  life,"  and  the  slave  of  Caleb  Dodge 
won  the  suit. 

Felix  Holbrook  and  other  slaves  presented  a  peti- 


24  A  School  History  of  the 

tion  to  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives 
in  1773,  asking  to  be  set  free  and  granted  soine 
unimproved  lands  where  they  might  earn  au  honest 
living  as  freemen.  Their  petition  was  delayed  con- 
sideration one  year,  and  finally  passed.  But  the 
Bnglish  governors,  Hutchinson  and  Gage,  refused 
to  sign  it,  because  they  perhaps  thought  it  would 
"choke  the  channel  of  a  commerce  in  human 
souls." 

British  Hatred  to  Negro  freedom  thus  made  itself 
plain  to  the  New  England  slaves,  and  a  few  years 
later,  when  England  fired  her  guns  to  subdue  the 
revolution  begun  at  Lexington,  the  slave  popula- 
tion enlisted  largely  in  the  defence  of  the  colonists. 
And  thus  the  Negro  slave  by  valor,  patriotism  and 
industry,  began  to  loosen  the  chains  of  his  own 
bondage  in  the  Northern  colonies. 

PHILLIS     WHEATLEY. 

Before  passing  from  the  New  England  colonies 
it  would  be  unfortunate  to  the  readers  of  this  book 
were  they  not  made  acquainted  with  the  great  and 
wonderful  career  of  the  young  Negro  slave  who 
bore  the  above  name.  She  came  from  Africa  and 
was  sold  in  a  Boston  slave  market  in  the  year  1761 
to  a  kind  lady  who  was  a  Mrs.  Wheatley.     As  she 


Negro  Race  in  America.  25 

sat  with  a  crowd  of  slaves  in  the  market,  naked, 
save  a  piece  of  cloth  tied  about  the  loins,  her  modest, 
intelligent  bearing  so  attracted  Mrs.  Wheatley  that 
she  selected  her  in  preference  to  all  the  others.  Her 
selection  proved  a  good  one,  for,  with  clean  clothing 
and  careful  attention,  Phillis  soon  began  to  show  a 
great  desire  for  learning.  Though  only  eight  years 
old,  this  young  African,  whose  race  all  the  learned 
men  said  were  incapable  of  culture,  within  little 
over  a  year's  time  so  mastered  the  English  lan- 
guage as  to  be  able  to  read  the  most  difficult  parts 
of  the  Bible  intelligently.  Her  achievements  in 
two  or  three  years  drew  the  leading  lights  of  Boston 
to  Mrs.  Wheatley's  house,  and  with  them  she  talked 
and  carried  on  correspondence  concerning  the  popu- 
lar topics  of  the  day.  Everybody  either  knew  or 
knew  of  Phillis.  She  became  skilled  in  Latin  and 
translated  one  of  Ovid's  stories,  which  was  published 
largely  in  English  magazines.  She  published 
many  poems  in  English,  one  of  which  was  addressed 
to  General  George  Washington.  He  sent  her  the 
following  letter  in  reply,  which  shows  that  Wash- 
ington was  as  great  in  heart  as  in  war: 

"Cambridge,  28th  February,  1776. 
"  Miss  Phillis : — Your  favor  of  the  26th  of  Octo- 
ber   did    not    reach  my  hands    till  the   middle    of 


26  A  School  History  of  the 

December.  *  *  *  *  I  thank  you  most  sin- 
cerely for  your  polite  notice  of  me  in  the  elegant 
lines  you  enclosed;  and  however  undeserving  '  I 
may  be  of  such  encomium  and  panegyric,  the  style 
and  manner  exhibit  a  striking  proof  of  your  poetical 
talents,  in  honor  of  which,  and  as  a  tribute  justly 
due  to  you,  I  would  have  published  the  poem,  had 
I  not  been  apprehensive  that,  while  I  only  meant 
to  give  the  world  this  new  instance  of  your  genius, 
I  might  have  incurred  the  imputation  of  vanity. 
This,  and  nothing  else,  determined  me  not  to  give 
it  place  in  the  public  prints. 

"If  you  should  ever  come  to  Cambridge,  or  near 
headquarters,  I  shall  be  happy  to  see  a  person  so 
favored  by  the  Muses,  and  to  whom  Nature  has  been 
so  liberal  and  beneficent  in  her  dispensations.  I 
am  with  great  respect, 

"Your  humble  servant, 
"GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

—  Williams. 

Phillis  was  emancipated  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
Soon  after  that  her  health  failed  and  she  was  sent 
to  Europe,  where  she  created  even  a  greater  sensa- 
tion than  in  America.  Men  and  women  in  the  very 
highest  stations  of  the  Old  World  were  wonder- 
struck,  and  industriously  attentive  to  this  humble 


Negro  Race  in  America.  27 

born  African  girl.  While  Phillis  was  away  Mrs. 
Wheatley  became  seriously  ill  and  her  daily  long- 
ings were  to  see  "her  Phillis,"  to  whom  she  was  so 
much  devoted.  It  is  related  that  she  would  often 
turn  on  her  sick-couch  and  exclaim,  "See!  Look 
at  my  Phillis!  Does  she  not  seem  as  though  she 
would  speak  to  me?"  Phillis  was  sent  for  to  come, 
and  in  response  to  the  multitude  of  kindnesses  done 
her  by  Mrs.  Wheatley,  she  hastened  to  her  bed-side 
where  she  arrived  just  before  Mrs.  Wheatley  died, 
and  "shortly  had  time  to  close  her  sightless  eyes." 

Mr.  Wheatley  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  mar- 
ried again  and  settled  in  England.  Phillis  being 
thus  left  alone  also  married.  Her  husband  was 
named  Peters.  He,  far  inferior  to  her  in  most  every 
way,  and  becoming  jealous  of  the  favors  shown  her 
by  the  best  of  society,  became  very  cruel.  Phillis 
did  not  long  survive  his  harsh  treatment,  and  she 
died  "greatly  beloved"  and  mourned  on  two  con- 
tinents on  December  5th,  1784,  at  the  age  cf  31. 

Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  brightest  of  the 
race,  whose  life  was  as  pure  as  a  crystal  and  devo- 
ted to  the  most  beautiful  in  poetry,  letters  and  reli- 
gion, and  exemplifies  the  capabilities  of  the  race. 

She  composed  this  verse: — 

"  'Twas  mercy  brought  me  from  my  pagan  laud, 
Taught  my  benighted  soul  to  understand 
That  there's  a  God — that  there's  a  Saviour  too  ; 
Once  I  redemption  neither  sought  nor  knew." 


28  A  School  History  of  the 

Contrary  to  the  Connecticut  slaveholders'  feigned 
unbelief  in  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  Negro, 
and  their  assertions  of  his  utter  inferiority  in  all 
things,  they  early  enacted  the  most  rigid  laws  pro- 
hibiting the  teaching  of  any  Negro  to  read,  bond  or 
free,  with  a  penalty  of  several  hundred  dollars  for 
every  such  act.  The  following  undeniable  story  is 
woven  into  the  fabric  of  Connecticut's  history,  and 
tells  a  sad  tale  of  the  prejudice  of  her  people  against 
the  Negro  during  the  days  of  slavery  there : 

"Prudence  Crandall  a  young  Quaker  lady  of 
talent  was  employed  to  teach  a  '  boarding  and  day- 
school.'  While  at  her  post  of  duty  one  day,  Sarah 
Harris,  whose  father  was  a  well-to-do  colored  farmer, 
applied  for  admission.  Miss  Crandall  hesitated 
somewhat  to  admit  her,  but  knowing  the  girl's 
respectability,  her  lady-like  and  modest  deportment, 
for  she  was  a  member  of  the  white  people's  church 
and  well  known  to  them,  she  finally  told  her  yes. 
The  girl  came.  Soon  Miss  Crandall  was  called 
upon  by  the  patrons,  announcing  their  disgust  and 
loathing  that  their  daughters  should  attend  school 
with  a  '  nigger  girl.'  Miss  Crandall  protested,  but 
to  no  avail.  The  white  pupils  were  finally  taken 
from  the  school.  Miss  Crandall  then  opened  a 
school  for  colored  ladies.  She  enrolled  about  twenty, 
but  they  were  subjected  to  many  outrageous  insults. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  29 

They  were  denied  accommodation  altogether  in  the 
village  of  Canterbury.  Their  well  was  filled  up 
with  trash,  and  all  kinds  of  unpleasant  and  annoy- 
ing acts  were  thrust  upon  them.  The  people  felt 
determined  that  Canterbury  should  not  have  the 
disgrace  of  a  colored  school.  No,  not  even  the  State 
of  Connecticut.  Miss  Crandall  sent  to  Brooklyn 
to  some  of  her  friends.  They  plead  in  her  behalf 
privately,  and  went  to  a  town  meeting  to  speak  for 
her,  but  were  denied  the  privilege.  Finally,  the 
Legislature  passed  a  law  prohibiting  colored  schools 
in  the  State.  From  the  advice  of  her  friends  and 
her  own  strong  will,  Miss  Crandall  continued  to 
teach.  She  was  arrested  and  her  friends  were  sent 
for.  They  came,  but  would  not  be  persuaded  by 
the  sheriff  and  other  officers  to  stand  her  bond. 
The  people  saw  the  disgrace  and  felt  ashamed  to 
have  it  go  down  in  history  that  she  was  put  in  jail. 
In  agreement  with  Miss  Crandall's  wishes  her 
friends  still  persisted,  so  about  night  she  was  put 
in  jail,  into  a  murderer's  cell.  The  news  flashed  over 
the  country,  much  to  the  Connecticut  people's 
chagrin  and  disgrace.  She  had  her  trial — the  Court 
evaded  giving  a  decision.  She  opened  her  school 
again,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  burn  up  the 
building  while  she  and  the  pupils  were  there,  but 
proved  unsuccessful.     One   night  about  midnight 


30  A  School  History  of  the 

they  were  aroused  to  find  themselves  besieged  by 
persons  with  heavy  iron  bars  and  clubs  breaking 
the  windows  and  tearing  things  to  pieces.  It  was 
then  thought  unwise  to  continue  the  school  longer. 
So  the  doors  were  closed  and  the  poor  girls,  whose 
only  offense  was  a  manifestation  for  knowledge, 
were  sent  to  their  homes.  This  law,  however,  was 
repealed  in  1838,  after  lasting  five  years. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  3 1 

CHAPTER  V. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE  AND  MARYLAND. 

New  Hampshire  slaves  were  very  few  in  number. 
The  people  of  this  colony  saw  the  evils  of  slavery 
very  early  and  passed  laws  against  their  importa- 
tion. Massachusetts  was  having  so  much  trouble 
with  her  slaves  that  the  New  Hampshire  people 
early  made  up  their  minds  that,  as  a  matter  of  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  of  humanity,  they  had  best  not  try 
to  build  up  their  colony  by  dealing  in  human  flesh 
and  blood. 

Maryland  was,  up  to  1630,  a  part  of  Virginia,  and 
slavery  there  partook  of  the  same  features.  Owing 
to  the  feeling  existing  in  the  colony  between  the 
Catholics  who  planted  it,  and  the  Protestants,  the 
slaves  were  treated  better  than  in  some  other 
provinces.  Yet  their  lot  was  a  hard  one  at  best; 
by  law  a  white  person  could  kill  a  slave  and  not 
suffer  death ;  only  pay  a  fine. 

White  Slaves  existed  in  this  colony,  many  of 
whom  came  as  criminals  from  England.  They,  it 
seems,  were  chiefly  domestic  servants,  while  the 
Negroes  worked  the  tobacco  fields. 


32  A  School  History  of  the 

BENJAMIN  BANNEKA,  ASTRONOMER  AND  MATHEMA- 
TICIAN. 

Bauneka  was  born  in  Maryland  in  the  year  1731. 
An  English  woman  named  Molly  Welsh,  who  came 
to  Maryland  as  an  emigrant,  is  said  to  have  been 
his  maternal  grandmother.  This  woman  was  sold 
as  a  slave  to  pay  her  passage  to  this  country  on 
board  an  emigrant  ship;  and  after  serving  out  her 
term  of  slavery  she  bought  two  Negro  slaves  her- 
self. These  slaves  were  men  of  extraordinary 
powers,  both  of  mind  and  body.  One  of  them,  said 
to  be  the  son  of  an  African  king,  was  set  free  by 
her,  and  she  soon  married  him.  There  were  four 
children,  and  one  of  them,  named  Mary,  married  a 
native  African,  Robert  Banneka,  who  was  the  father 
of  Benjamin. 

The  School  Days  of  young  Benjamin  were  spent 
in  a  "pay  school"  where  some  colored  children 
were  admitted.  The  short  while  that  Benjamin 
was  there  he  learned  to  love  his  books,  and  when 
the  other  children  played  he  was  studying.  He 
was  very  attentive  to  his  duties  on  his  father's  farm, 
and  when  through  with  his  task  of  caring  for  the 
horses  and  cows,  he  would  spend  his  leisure  hours 
in  reading  books  and  papers  on  the  topics  of  the 
day. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  33 

The  Post-Office  was  the  famous  gathering  place 
iu  those  days,  and  there  it  was  that  young  Benjamin 
was  accustomed  to  go.  He  met  many  of  the  lead- 
ing people  of  the  community  and  fluently  discussed 
with  them  difficult  questions.  He  could  answer 
almost  any  problem  put  to  him  in  mathematics,  and 
became  known  throughout  the  colonies  as  a  genius. 
Many  of  his  answers  to  questions  were  beyond  the 
reach  of  ordinary  minds. 

Messrs.  Ellicott  &  Co.,  who  built  flour  mills  on 
the  Patapsco  River  near  Baltimore,  very  early  dis- 
covered Banneka's  genius,  and  Mr.  George  Ellicott 
allowed  him  the  use  of  his  library  and  astronomical 
instruments.  The  result  of  this  was  that  Benjamin 
Banneka  published  his  first  almanac  in  the  year 
1792,  said  to  be  the  first  almanac  published  in 
America.  Before  that  he  had  made  numerous  cal- 
culations in  astronomy  and  constructed  for  himself 
a  splendid  clock  that,  unfortunately,  was  burned 
with  his  dwelling  soon  after  his  death. 

Banneka's  Reputation  spread  all  over  America 
and  even  to  Europe.  He  drew  to  him  the  associa- 
tion of  the  best  and  most  learned  men  of  his  coun- 
try. His  ability  was  a  curiosity  to  everybody,  and 
did  much  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  Negro  of  his 
time  could  master  the  arts  and  sciences.  It  is  said 
that  he  was  the  master  of  five  different  languages, 
3 


34  A  School  History  of  the 

as  well  as  a  mathematical  and  astronomical  genius. 
He  accompanied  and  assisted  the  commissioners 
who  surveyed  the  District  of  Columbia. 

He  sent  Mr.  Thomas  Jefferson  one  of  his  almanacs, 
which  Mr.  Jefferson  prized  so  highly  he  sent  it  to 
Paris  and  wrote  Mr.  Banneka  the  following  letter 
in  reply.  Along  with  Mr.  Banneka's  almanac  to 
Mr.  Jefferson,  he  sent  a  letter  pleading  for  better 
treatment  of  the  people  of  African  descent  in  the 
United  States. 

mr.  jefferson's  letter  to  b.  banneka. 

"Philadelphia,  August  30th,  1791. 
"  Dear  Sir: — I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  let- 
ter of  the  19th  instant,  and  for  the  almanac  it  con- 
tained. Nobody  wishes  more  than  I  do  to  see  such 
proofs  as  you  exhibit  that  Nature  has  given  to  our 
black  brethren  talents  equal  to  those  of  the  other 
colors  of  men,  and  that  the  appearance  of  a  want  of 
them  is  owing  only  to  the  degraded  condition  of 
their  existence,  both  in  Africa  and  America.  I  can 
add,  with  truth,  that  no  one  wishes  more  ardently 
to  see  a  good  system  commenced  for  raising  the 
condition,  both  of  their  body  and  mind,  to  what  it 
ought  to  be,  as  fast  as  the  imbecility  of  their  present 
existence,  and  other  circumstances  which  cannot  be 
neglected,  will  admit.     I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 


Negro  Race  in  America.  35 

sending  your  almanac  to  Monsieur  de  Cordorat, 
Secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris  and 
member  of  the  Philanthropic  Society,  because  I 
considered  it  a  document  to  which  your  whole  color 
had  a  right  for  their  justification  against  the  doubts 
which  have  been  entertained  of  them. 
"I  am,  with  great  esteem,  sir, 

"Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"THOS.  JEFFERSON." 

Mr.  Benjamin  Banneka,  near  EllicoWs 
Lower  Mills,  Baltimore  County. 

The  Personal  Appearance  of  Mr.  Banneka  is  drawn 
from  the  letters  of  those  who  wrote  about  him.  A 
certain  gentleman  who  met  him  at  Ellicott's  Mills 
gives  this  description:  "Of  black  complexion, 
medium  stature,  of  uncommonly  soft  and  gentle- 
manly manners,  and  of  pleasing  colloquial  powers." 

Mr.  Banneka  died  about  the  year  1804,-.  very 
greatly  mourned  by  the  people  of  this  country  and 
Europe.  He  left  two  sisters,  who,  according  to  his 
request,  turned  over  his  books,  papers  and  astronom- 
ical calculations  to  Mr.  Ellicott.  There  has  been 
no  greater  mind  in  the  possession  of  any  American 
citizen  than  that  of  Benjamin  Banneka.  He  stands 
out  in  history  as  one  of  those  phenomenal  charac- 
ters whose  achievements  seem  to  be  nothing  short 
of  miraculous. 


36  A  School  History  of  the 

Francis  Ellen  Watkins  was  another  of  Maryland's 
bright  slaves.  She  distinguished  herself  as  an 
anti-slavery  lecturer  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  wrote 
a  book  entitled,  "Poems  and  Miscellaneous  Writings: 
By  Francis  Ellen  Watkins."  In  that  book  was  the 
following  poem  entitled,  "Ellen  Harris": 

(1)  L,ike  a  fawn  from  the  arrow,  startled  and  wild, 
A  woman  swept  by  me  bearing  a  child  ; 

In  her  eye  was  the  night  of  a  settled  despair, 

And  her  brow  was  overshadowed  with  anguish  and  care. 

(2)  She  was  neariug  the  river, — on  reaching  the  brink 
She  heeded  no  danger,  she  paused  not  to  think  ! 
For  she  is  a  mother — her  child  is  a  slave, — 

And  she'll  give  him  his  freedom  or  find  him  a  grave  ! 

(3)  But  she's  free, — yes,  free  from  the  land  where  the  slave 
From  the  hand  of  oppression  must  rest  in  the  grave  ; 
Where  bondage  and  torture,  where  scourges  and  chains, 
Have  placed  on  our  banner  indelible  stains. 

(4)  The  blood-hounds  have  missed  the  scent  of  her  wa3>- ; 
The  hunter  is  rifled  and  foiled  of  his  prey  ; 

Fierce  jargon  and  cursing,  with  clanking  of  chains, 
Make  sounds  of  strange  discord  on  Liberty's  plains. 

(5)  With  the  rapture  of  love  and  fullness  of  bliss, 
She  placed  on  his  brow  a  mother's  fond  kiss, — 
Oh!  poverty,  danger  and  death  she  can  brave, 
For  the  child  of  her  love  is  no  longer  a  slave! 


Negro  Race  in  America.  ^y 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DELAWARE  AND  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Delaware  was  settled,  as  you  will  remember,  by 
the  Swedes  and  Danes  in  1639.  They  were  a 
simple,  contented  and  religious  people.  It  is 
recorded  that  they  had  a  law  very  early  in  their 
history  declaring  it  was  "not  lawful  to  buy  and 
keep  slaves."  It  is  very  evident,  though,  that  later 
on  in  the  history  of  the  colony  slaves  were  held, 
and  their  condition  was  the  same  as  in  New  York. 
While  the  north  of  the  colony  was  perhaps  fully  in 
sympathy  with  slavery,  the  western  part  was  influ- 
enced by  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  Quakers  in 
Pennsylvania. 

The  Friends  of  Pennsylvania  were  opposed  to 
slavery,  and  although  slavery  was  tolerated  by  law, 
the  way  was  left  open  for  their  education  and  relig- 
ious training.  In  1688  Francis  Daniel  Pastorious* 
addressed  a  memorial  to  the  Friends  of  German- 
town.  His  was  said  to  be  the  first  protest  against 
slavery  made  by  any  of  the  churches  of  America. 
He  believed  that  "slave  and  slave-owner  should 
be  equal  at  the  Master's  feet." 

William    Penn  showed  himself  friendly  to  the 
slaves. 

*  Williams. 


38  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  VII. 

NORTH   CAROLINA. 

This  colony  in  geographical  position  lies  between 
South  Carolina  and  Virginia.  While  it  held  slaves, 
it  may  be  justly  said  its  position  on  this  great 
question  was  not  so  burdensome  to  the  slave  as  the 
other  Southern  colonies,  and  even  to  the  present 
time  the  Negroes  and  whites  of  this  State  seem  to 
enjoy  the  most  harmonious  relations.  The  slave 
laws  of  this  State  gave  absolute  dominion  of  the 
master  over  the  servant,  but  allowed  him  to  join 
the  churches  from  the  first.  Large  communities  of 
free  Negroes  lived  in  this  State  prior  to  the  civil 
war  and  for  a  long  time  could  vote.  They  had 
some  rights  of  citizenship  and  many  of  them  became 
men  of  note. 

Prior  to  the  Civil  War  there  were  schools  for  these 
free  people.  Some  of  them  owned  slaves  themselves. 
In  this  colony  the  slaves  were  worked  as  a  rule  on 
small  farms  and  there  was  a  close  relation  estab- 
lished between  master  and  slave,  which  bore  its 
fruits  in  somewhat  milder  treatment  than  was 
customary  in    colonies  where  the  slaves  lived  on 


Negro  Race  in  America.  39 

large  cotton  plantations  governed  by  cruel  overseers, 
some  of  whom  were  imported  from  the  North. 

The  Eastern  Section  of  North  Carolina  was  thickly 
peopled  with  slaves,  and  some  landlords  owned  as 
many  as  two  thousand. 

The  increase  and  surplusage  of  the  slave  popula- 
tion in  this  State  was  sold  to  the  more  Southern 
colonies,  where  they  were  used  011  the  cotton  planta- 
tions. 

A  NORTH  CAROLINA  SLAVE  POET. 

George  M.  Horton  was  his  name.  He  was  the 
slave  of  James  M.  Horton,  of  Chatham  County, 
N.  C.  Several  of  his  special  poems  were  published 
in  the  Raleigh  Register.  In  1829,  A.  M.  Gales,  of 
this  State,  afterwards  of  the  firm  of  Gales  &  Seaton, 
Washington,  D.  C,  published  a  volume  of  the  slave 
Horton's  poems  which  excited  the  wonder  and 
admiration  of  the  best  men  in  this  country.  His 
poems  reached  Boston  where  they  were  much  talked 
of  and  used  as  an  argument  against  slavery.  Hor- 
ton, at  the  time  his  volume  was  published,  could 
read  but  not  write,  and  was,  therefore,  compelled  to 
dictate  his  productions  to  some  one  who  wrote  them 
down  for  him.  He  afterwards  learned  to  write.  He 
seemed  to  have  concealed  all  his  achievements  from 
his  master,  who  knew  nothing  of  his  slave's  ability 


4-0  A  School  History  of  the 

except  what  others  told  him.  He  simply  knew 
George  as  a  field-hand,  which  work  he  did  faithfully 
and  honestly,  and  wrote  his  poetry  too.  Though  a 
slave,  his  was  a  noble  soul  inspired  with  the  Muse 
from  above.  The  Raleigh  Register  said  of  him, 
July  2d,  1829:  "That  his  heart  has  felt  deeply  and 
sensitively  in  this  lowest  possible  condition  of 
human  nature  (meaning  slavery),  will  be  easily 
believed  and  is  impressively  confirmed  by  one  of 
his  stanzas,  viz.: 

"  Come  melting  pity  from  afar, 
And  break  this  vast,  enormous  bar 
Between  a  wretch  and  thee  ; 
Purchase  a  few  short  days  of  time, 
And  bid  a  vassal  soar  sublime 
On  wings  of  Liberty." 


Negro  Race  in  America.  41 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Charters  for  the  settlement  of  North  and  South 
Carolina  were  obtained  at  the  same  time — 1663. 
Slavery  commenced  with  the  colony.  Owing  to 
the  peculiar  fitness  of  the  soil  for  the  production  of 
rice  and  cotton,  slave  labor  was  in  great  demand. 
White  labor  failed,  and  the  colony  was  marvelously 
prosperous  under  the  slave  system.  Negroes  were 
imported  from  Africa  by  the  thousands.  Their 
labor  proved  very  productive,  and  here  it  was  that 
the  slave  code  reached  its  maximum  of  harshness. 

A  Negro  Regiment  in  the  service  of  Spain  was 
doing  duty  in  Florida,  and  through  it  the  Spanish, 
who  were  at  dagger's  ends  with  the  British  colonies, 
sent  out  spies  who  offered  inducements  to  such  of 
the  South  Carolina  slaves  as  would  runaway  and 
join  them.  Many  slaves  ran  away.  Very  rigid 
and  extreme  laws  were  passed  to  prevent  slaves 
from  running  away,  such  as  branding  and  cutting 
the  "  ham-string  "  of  the  leg. 

A  Riot  followed  the  continued  cruel  treatment  of 
slaves  under  the  runaway  code ;  1748  is  said  to  have 
been  the  year  in  which  a  crowd  of  slaves  assembled  in 


42  A  School  History  of  the 

the  village  of  Stono,  slew  the  guards  at  the  arsenal 
and  secured  the  ammunition  there.  They  then 
marched  to  the  homes  of  several  leading  men  whom 
they  murdered,  together  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren. The  slaves  captured  considerable  rum  in 
their  plundering  expedition,  and  having  indulged 
very  freely  stopped  for  a  frolic,  and  in  the  midst  of 
their  hilarity  were  Captured  by  the  whites,  and 
thus  ended  the  riot. 

The  Discontent  of  the  Slaves  grew,  however,  in 
spite  of  the  speedy  ending  of  this  attempt  at  insur- 
rection. Cruel  and  inhuman  treatment  was  bear- 
ing its  fruits  in  a  universal  dissatisfaction  of  the 
slaves,  and  in  South  Carolina,  as  in  Massachusetts, 
it  began  to  be  a  serious  question  as  to  what  side 
the  slaves  would  take  'in  the  war  of  the  coming 
Revolution.  England  offered  freedom  and  money 
to  slaves  who  would  join  her  army.  The  people  of 
South  Carolina  did  not  wait  long  before  they  allowed 
the  Negroes  to  enlist  in  defence  of  the  colonies,  and 
highly  complimented  their  valor.  If  a  slave  killed 
a  Briton  he  was  emancipated ;  if  he  were  taken 
prisoner  and  escaped  back  into  the  Province  he  was 
also  set  free. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  43 

CHAPTER  IX. 

GEORGIA. 

From  the  time  of  its  settlement  in  1732  till  1750 
this  colony  held  no  slaves.  Manyof  the  inhabitants 
were  anxious  for  the  introduction  of  slaves,  and 
when  the  condition  of  the  colony  finally  became 
hopeless  they  sent  many  long  petitions  to  the  Trus- 
tees, stating  that  a  the  one  thing  needful"  for  their 
prosperity  was  Negroes.  It  was  a  long  time  before 
the  Trustees  would  give  their  consent;  they  said 
that  the  colony  of  Georgia  was  designed  to  be  a 
protection  to  South  Carolina  and  the  other  more 
Northern  colonies  against  the  Spanish,  who  were 
then  occupying  Florida,  and  if  the  colonists  had  to 
control  slaves  it  would  weaken  their  power  to 
defend  their  colonies.  Finally,  owing  to  the  hope- 
less condition  of  the  Georgia  colony,  the  Trustees 
yielded.     Slaves  were  introduced  in  large  numbers. 

Prosperity  came  with  the  slaves,  and,  as  in  the 
case  of  Virginia,  the  colony  of  Georgia  took  a  fresh 
start  and  began  to  prosper.  White  labor  proved  a 
failure.  It  was  the  honest  and  faithful  toil  of  the 
Negro  that  turned  the  richness  of  Georgia's  soil 
into   English  gold,  built   cities   and   created  large 


44  A  School  History  of  the 

estates,  gilded  mansions  furnished  with  gold  and 
silver  plate.* 

Oglethorpe  Planned  the  Georgia  colony  as  a  home 
for  Englishmen  who  had  failed  in  business  and 
were  imprisoned  for  their  debts.  These  English 
people  were  out  of  place  in  the  wild  woods  of 
America,  and  continued  a  failure  in  America,  as  well 
as  in  England,  until  the  toiling  but  "heathen" 
African  came  to  their  aid. 

Cotton  Plantations  were  numerous  in  Georgia 
under  the  slave  system.  The  slave-owners  had 
large  estates,  numbering  thousands  of  acres  in 
many  cases.  The  slaves  were  experts  in  the  cul- 
ture of  cotton.  The  climate  was  adapted  to  sugar- 
cane and  rice,  both  of  which  were  raised  in  abund- 
ance. 

blount's  fort. 

This  fortification,  erected  by  some  of  the  armies 
during  the  early  colonial  wars,  had  been  abandoned. 


*  The  famous  minister,  George  Whitfield,  referring  to  his  plantation  in  this 
colony,  said  :  "  Upward  of  five  thousand  pounds  have  been  expended  in  the  under- 
taking, and  yet  very  little  proficiency  made  in  the  cultivation  of  my  tract  of  land, 
and  that  entirely  owing  to  the  necessity  I  lay  under  of  making  use  of  white  hands. 
Had  a  Negro  been  allowed  I  should  now  have  had  a  sufficiency  to  support  a  great 
many  orphans,  without  expending  above  half  the  sum  which  has  been  laid  out." 
He  purchased  a  plantation  in  South  Carolina,  where  slavery  existed,  and  speaks 
of  it  thus  :  "  Blessed  be  God  !  This  plantation  has  succeeded  ;  and  though  at  pres- 
ent I  have  only  eight  working  hands,  yet,  in  all  probability,  there  will  be  more 
raised  in  one  year,  and  without  a  quarter  of  the  expense,  than  has  been  produced 
at  Bethesda  for  several  years  past.  This  confirms  me  in  the  opinion  I  have  enter- 
tained for  a  long  time,  that  Georgia  never  can  or  will  be  a  flourishing  province 
without  Negroes  are  allowed." 


Negro  Race  in  America.  45 

It  lies  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Apalachicola  River 
in  Florida,  forty  miles  from  the  Georgia  line.  Negro 
refugees  from  Georgia  fled  into  the  everglades  of 
Florida  as  a  hiding-place  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  In  these  swamps  they  remained  for 
forty  years  successfully  baffling  all  attempts  to 
re-enslave  them.  Many  of  those  who  planned  the 
escape  at  first  were  now  dead,  and  their  children 
had  grown  up  to  hate  the  lash  and  love  liberty. 
Their  parents  had  taught  them  that  to  die  in  the 
swamps  with  liberty  was  better  than  to  feast  as  a 
bondman  and  a  slave.  When  Blount's  Fort  was 
abandoned  and  taken  possession  of  by  these  children 
of  the  swamp,  there  were  three  hundred  and  eleven 
of  them,  out  of  which  not  more  than  twenty  had 
ever  been  slaves.  They  were  joined  by  other  slaves 
who  ran  away  as  chance  permitted.  The  neighbor- 
ing slave-holders  attempted  to  capture  these  people 
but  failed.  The}7  finally  called  on  the  President  of 
the  United  States  for  aid.  General  Jackson,  then 
commander  of  the  Southern  militia,  delegated  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Clinch  to  take  the  Fort  and  reduce 
these  people  to  slavery  again.  His  sympathies 
being  with  the  refugees,  he  marched  to  the  fort  and 
returned,  reporting  that  "the  fortification  was  not 
accessible  by  land." 

Commodore  Patterson  next  received  orders.     He 


46  A  School  History  of  the 

commanded  the  American  fleet,  then  lying  in 
Mobile  Bay.  A  "sub-order  was  given  instantly  to 
Lieutenant  Loomis  to  ascend  the  Apalachicola  River 
with  two  gun-boats,  to  seize  the  people  in  Blount's 
Fort,  deliver  them  to  their  owners,  and  destroy  the 
fort."  At  early  dawn  on  the  morning  of  September 
the  17th,  1816,  the  two  boats,  with  full  sail  catching 
a  gentle  breeze,  moved  up  the  river  towards  the  fort. 
They  lowered  a  boat  on  their  arrival  and  twelve 
men  went  ashore.  They  were  met  at  the  water's 
edge  and  asked  their  errand  by  a  number  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  fort.  Lieutenant  Loomis 
informed  them  that  he  came  to  destroy  the  fort  and 
turn  over  its  inmates  to  the  "slave-holders,  then  on 
board  the  gun-boat,  who  claimed  them  as  fugitive 
slaves."  The  demand  was  rejected.  The  colored 
men  returned  to  the  fort  and  informed  the  inmates. 
Great  consternation  prevailed.  The  women  were 
much  distressed,  but  amid  the  confusion  and  excite- 
ment there  appeared  an  aged  father  whose  back 
boie  the  print  of  the  lash,  and  whose  shoulder  bore 
the  brand  of  his  master.  He  assured  the  people 
that  the  fort  could  not  be  taken,  and  ended  his 
speech  with  these  patriotic  words :  "  Give  me  liberty, 
or  give  me  death."  The  shout  went  up  from  the 
entire  fort  as  from  one  man,  and  they  prepared  to 
face  the  enemy. 

The  Gun-boats  Soon  Opened   Fire.     For  several 


Negro  Race  in  America.  47 

hours  they  buried  balls  into  the  earthen  walls  and 
injured  no  one.  Bombs  were  then  fired.  These 
had  more  effect,  as  there  was  no  shelter  from  them. 
Mothers  were  more  careful  to  hug  their  young 
babies  closer  to  their  bosoms.  All  this  seemed  little 
more  than  sport  for  the  inmates  of  the  fort,  who  saw 
nothing  but  a  joke  in  it  after  shelter  had  been 
found. 

Lieutenant  Loomis  saw  his  failure.  He  had  a 
consultation  and  it  was  agreed  to  fire  "hot  shot  at 
the  magazine."  So  the  furnaces  were  heated  and 
the  fier}^  flames  began  to  whizz  through  the  air. 
This  last  stroke  was  effectual,  the  hot  shot  set  the 
magazine  on  fire  and  a  terrible  explosion  covered 
the  entire  place  with  debris.  Many  were  instantl}7 
killed  by  the  falling  earth  and  timbers.  The 
mangled  limbs  of  mothers  and  babies  lay  side  by 
side.  It  was  now  dark.  Fifteen  persons  in  the  fort 
had  survived  the  explosion.  The  sixty  sailors  and 
officers  now  entered,  trampling  over  the  wounded 
and  dying,  and  took  these  fifteen  refugees  in  hand- 
cuffs and  ropes  back  to  the  boats.  The  dead, 
wounded  and  dying  were  left. 

As  the  two  boats  moved  away  from  this  scene  of 
carnage  the  sight  weakened  the  veteran  sailors  on 
board  the  boats,  and  when  the  officers  retired  the 
weather-worn  sailors  "gathered  before  the  mast, 
and  loud  and  bitter  were  the  curses  uttered  aeainst 


48  A  School  History  of  the 

slavery  and  against  the  officers  of  the  government 
who  had  thus  constrained  them  to  murder  innocent 
women  and  helpless  children,  merely  for  their  love 
of  liberty." 

The  Dead  Remained  unburied  in  the  fort.  The 
wounded  and  dying  were  not  cared  for  and  all  were 
left  as  fat  prey  for  vultures  to  feast  upon.  For 
fifty  years  afterward  the  bones  of  these  brave  people 
lay  bleaching  in  the  sun.  Twenty  years  after  the 
murder  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  one  of 
the  free  States  introduced  a  bill  giving  a  gratuity 
to  the  perpetrators  of  this  crime.  The  bill  passed 
both  houses. 


Having  briefly  considered  the  establishment  of 
slavery  in  the  colonies,  where  the  Negro  slave  was 
employed  in  every  menial  occupation,  and  where 
he  accepted  the  conditions  imposed  upon  him  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  wrong  done,  but  still  jubi- 
lant with  songs  of  hope  for  deliverance,  and  trust 
in  God  whose  promises  are  many  to  the  faithful, 
let  us  turn  to 

The  War  of  the  Revolution  which  soon  came  on ; 
and  in  it  Providence  no  doubt  designed  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  race  to  loosen  up  the  rivets  in  the 
chains  that  bound  them.  They  made  good  of  this 
opportunity. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  49 


CHAPTER  X. 

HABITS  AND  CUSTOMS   OF   THE   SOUTHERN 
COLONIES. 

Barnes  Gives  the  following  account  of  the  habits 
and  customs  of  the  Southern  colonies  during  the 
days  of  slavery : 

"The  Southern  Colonists  differed  widely  from  the 
Northern  in  habits  and  style  of  living.  In  place  of 
thickly  settled  towns  and  villages,  they  had  large 
plantations,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  numerous 
household  of  servants.  The  Negro  quarters  formed 
a  hamlet  apart,  with  its  gardens  and  poultry  yards. 
An  estate  in  those  days  was  a  little  empire.  The 
planter  had  among  his  slaves  men  of  every  trade, 
and  they  made  most  of  the  articles  needed  for  com- 
mon use  upon  the  plantation.  There  were  large 
sheds  for  curing  tobacco,  and  mills  for  grinding 
corn  and  wheat.  The  tobacco  was  put  up  and  con- 
signed directly  to  England.  The  flour  of  the  Mount 
Vernon  estate  was  packed  under  the  eye  of  Wash- 
ington himself,  and  we  are  told  that  barrels  of  flour 
bearing  his  brand  passed  in  the  West  India  market 
without  inspection. 
4 


50  A  School  History  of  the 

"Up  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  (near  Charleston),  were 
the  remains  of  the  only  bona  fide  nobility  ever  estab- 
lished on  our  soil.  There  the  descendants  of  the 
Landgraves,  who  received,  their  title  in  accordance 
with  Locke's  grand  model,  occupied  their  manorial 
dwellings.  Along  the  banks  of  the  James  and 
Rappahannock,  the  plantation  often  passed  from 
father  to  son,  according  to  the  law  of  entail. 

"  The  heads  of  these  great  Southern  families  lived 
like  lords,  keeping  their  packs  of  choice  hunting 
dogs,  and  their  stables  of  blooded  horses,  and  roll- 
ing to  church  or  town  in  their  coach  of  six,  with 
outriders  on  horseback.  Their  spacious  mansions 
were  sometimes  built  of  imported  brick.  Within, 
the  grand  staircases,  the  mantels,  and  the  wainscot, 
reaching  in  a  quaint  fashion  from  floor  to  ceiling, 
were  of  mahogany  elaborately  carved  and  paneled. 
The  sideboards  shone  with  gold  and  silver  plate 
and  the  tables  were  loaded  with  the  luxuries  of  the 
Old  World.  Negro  servants  thronged  about,  ready 
to  perforin  every  task. 

"All  Labor  was  done  by  Slaves,  it  being  considered 
degrading  for  a  white  man  to  work.  Even  the 
superintendence  of  the  plantation  and  slaves  was 
generally  committed  to  overseers,  while  the  master 
dispensed  a  generous  hospitality,  and  occupied  him- 
self with  social  and  political  life." 


Negro  Race  in  America.  51 

SLAVERY    INTRODUCED    IN    THE    COLONIES. 

In  Virginia,  the  last  of  August,  161 9. 

In  New  York,  162S. 

In  Massachusetts,  1637. 

In  Maryland,  1634. 

In  Delaware,  1636. 

In  Connecticut,  between  163 1  and  1636. 

In  Rhode  Island  from  the  beginning,  1647. 

New  Jersey,  not  known,  as  early,  though,  as  in 
New  Netherland. 

South  Carolina  and  North  Carolina  from  the 
earliest  days  of  existence. 

In  New  Hampshire,  slavery  existed  from  the 
beginning. 

Pennsylvania  doubtful. 


52  A  School  History  of  the 


CHAPTER  XI. 

NEGRO  SOLDIERS  IN  REVOLUTIONARY 
TIMES. 

Objections  to  Enlisting  Negroes  caused  much  dis- 
cussion at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
The  Northern  colonies  partially  favored  their  enlist- 
ment because  they  knew  of  their  bravery,  and 
rightly  reasoned  that  if  the  Negroes  were  not 
allowed  to  enlist  in  the  Colonial  army,  where  their 
sympathies  were,  they  would  accept  the  proposi- 
tions of  the  British,  who  promised  freedom  to  every 
slave  who  would  desert  his  master  and  join  the 
English  army. 

Lord  Dunmore,  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  the 
other  British  leaders,  saw  a  good  chance  to  weaken 
the  strength  of  the  colonies  by  offering  freedom  to 
the  slaves  if  they  would  fight  for  England.  They 
knew  that  the  slaves  would  be  used  to  throw  up 
fortifications,  do  fatigue  duties,  and  raise  the  pro- 
visions necessary  to  support  the  Colonial  army. 
So  Lord  Dunmore  issued  a  proclamation  offering 
freedom  to  all  slaves  who  would  join  his  army.  As 
the  result  of  this,  Thomas  Jefferson   is  quoted  as 


Negro  Race   in  America.  53 

saying  30,000  Negroes  from  Virginia  alone  joined 
the  British  ranks. 

The  Americans  became  fearfnl  of  the  results  that 
were  sure  to  follow  the  plans  of  Lord  Dnnmore. 
Sentiment  began  to  change  in  the  Negro's  favor; 
the  newspapers  were  filled  with  kind  words  for  the 
slaves,  trying  to  convince  them  that  the  British 
Government  had  forced  slavery  upon  the  colonies 
against  their  will,  and  that  their  best  interests  were 
centred  in  the  triumph  of  the  Colonial  army.  A 
part  of  an  article  in  one  paper,  headed  "Caution  to 
the  Negro,"  read  thus:  "  Can  it,  then,  be  supposed 
that  the  Negroes  will  be  better  used  by  the  English, 
who  have  always  encouraged  and  upheld  this 
slavery,  than  by  their  present  masters,  who  pity 
their  condition  ;  who  wish  in  general  to  make  it  as 
easy  and  comfortable  as  possible,  and  who  would, 
were  it  in  their  power,  or  were  they  permitted,  not 
only  prevent  any  more  Negroes  from  losing  their 
freedom,  but  restore  it  to  such  as  have  already  unhap- 
pily lost  it.  :|:  :':  :i:  They  will  send  the  Negroes 
to  the  West  Indies  where  every  year  they  sell  many 
thousands  of  their  miserable  brethren.  Be  not 
tempted,  ye  Negroes,  to  ruin  yourselves  by  this 
proclamation. "  The  colonies  finally  allowed  the 
enlistment  of  Negroes,  their  masters  being  paid  for 
them    out  of  the   public  treasury.     Those    slaves 


54  A  School  History  of  the 

who  had  already  joined  the  British  were  offered 
pardon  if  they  would  escape  and  return,  and  a 
severe  punishment  was  to  be  inflicted  on  those  who 
left  the  colony  if  they  were  caught. 

To  Offset  the  Plans  of  Lord  Dunmore,  the  Ameri- 
cans proposed  to  organize  a  Negro  army  to  be  com- 
manded by  the  brave  Col.  Laurens ;  and  on  this 
subject  the  following  letter  was  addressed  to  John 
Jay,  President  of  Congress,  by  the  renowned  Alex- 
ander Hamilton.  This  letter  also  shows  in  what 
esteem  the  Negro  slave  of  America  was  held  by  men 
of  note: 

"Headquarters,  March  14,  1779. 
"  To  John  Jay. 

"Dear  Sir:  Col.  Laurens,  who  will  have  the 
honor  of  delivering  you  this  letter,  is  on  his  way 
to  South  Carolina  on  a  project  which  I  think,  in 
the  present  situation  of  affairs  there,  is  a  very  good 
one,  and  deserves  every  kind  of  support  and 
encouragement.  This  is  to  raise  two,  or  three,  or 
four  battalions  of  Negroes,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  government  of  that  State,  by  contributions  from 
the  owners  in  proportion  to  the  number  they  pos- 
sess. If  you  think  proper  to  enter  upon  the  sub- 
ject with  him,  he  will  give  you  a  detail  of  his 
plan.     He  wishes  to  have  it  recommended  by  Con- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  55 

gress  and  the  State,  and,  as  an  inducement,  they 
should  engage  to  take  those  battalions  into  Conti- 
nental pay. 

"It  appears  to  me  that  an  expedient  of  this  kind, 
in  the  present  state  of  Southern  affairs,  is  the 
most  rational  that  can  be  adopted  and  promises 
very  important  advantages.  Indeed,  I  hardly  see 
how  a  sufficient  force  can  be  collected  in  that  quar- 
ter without  it,  and  the  enemy's  operations  are  grow- 
ing infinitely  more  serious  and  formidable.  I  have 
not  the  least  doubt  that  the  Negroes  will  make  very 
excellent  soldiers  with  proper  management ;  and  I 
will  venture  to  pronounce  that  they  cannot  be  put 
in  better  hands  than  those  of  Mr.  Laurens.  He  has 
all  the  zeal,  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  every  other 
qualification  necessary  to  succeed  in  such  an  under- 
taking. It  is  a  maxim  with  some  great  military 
judges  that,  "with  sensible  officers,  soldiers  can 
hardly  be  too  stupid";  and,  on  this  principle,  it  is 
thought  that  the  Russians  would  make  the  best 
troops  in  the  world  if  they  were  under  other  officers 
than  their  own.  I  mention  this,  because  I  hear  it 
frequently  objected  to,  the  scheme  of  embodying 
Negroes,  that  they  are  too  stupid  to  make  soldiers. 
This  is  so  far  from  appearing,  to  me,  a  valid  objec- 
tion, that  I  think  their  want  of  cultivation  (for  their 
natural  faculties   are  probably   as  good  as  ours), 


56  A  School  History  of  the 

joined  to  that  habit  of  subordination  from  a  life  of 
servitude,  will  make  them  sooner  become  soldiers 
than  our  white  inhabitants.  Let  officers  be  men 
of  sense  and  sentiment,  and  the  nearer  the  soldiers 
approach  to  machines  perhaps  the  better. 

"I  foresee  that  this  project  will  have  to  combat 
much  opposition  from  prejudice  and  self-interest. 
The  contempt  we  have  been  taught  to  entertain  for 
the  blacks,  makes  us  fancy  many  things  that 
are  founded  neither  in  reason  nor  experience,  and 
an  unwillingness  to  part  with  property  of  so  val- 
uable a  kind  will  furnish  a  thousand  arguments 
to  show  the  impracticability  or  pernicious  tendency 
of  a  scheme  which  requires  such  a  sacrifice.  But 
it  should  be  considered  that  if  we  do  not  make 
use  of  them  in  this  way  the  enemy  probably  will ; 
and  that  the  best  way  to  counteiact  the  temptations 
they  hold  out  will  be  to  offer  them  ourselves.  An 
essential  part  of  the  plan  is  to  give  them  their 
freedom  with  their  muskets.  This  will  secure 
their  fidelity,  animate  their  courage,  and,  I  believe, 
will  have  a  good  influence  upon  those  who  remain 
by  opening  the  door  to  their  emancipation.  This 
circumstance,  I  confess,  has  no  small  weight  in 
inducing  me  to  wish  the  success  of  the  project,  for 
the  dictates  of  humanity  and   true   policy  equally 


Negro  Race   in  America.  57 

interest  me  in  favor  of  this  unfortunate  class  of 
men.  With  the  truest  respect  and  esteem,  I  am, 
sir,  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"Alex.  Hamilton." 

George  Washington,  James  Madison,  and  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  gave  their  consent  to  the  plan  of 
Col.  Laurens,  and  recommended  it  to  the  South- 
ern colonies.  It  was  resolved  by  Congress  to  com- 
pensate the  master  for  the  slaves  used  by  Col.  Lau- 
rens at  the  rate  of  $1,000  apiece  for  each  "able- 
bodied  negro  man  of  standard  size,  not  exceeding 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  who  shall  be  so  enlisted 
and  pass  muster.  That  no  pay  be  allowed  to  the 
said  Negroes,  but  that  they  be  clothed  and  sub- 
sisted at  the  expense  of  the  United  States  ; .  that 
every  Negro  who  shall  well  and  faithfully  serve 
as  a  soldier  to  the  end  of  the  present  war,  and  shall 
then  return  his  arms,  shall  be  emancipated  and 
receive  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars." 

Congress  commissioned  Col.  Laurens  to  carry 
out  this  plan.  "He  repaired  to  South  Carolina 
and  threw  all  his  energies  into  his  noble  mis- 
sion." The  people  of  the  States  of  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina  refused  to  co-operate  with  him. 
It  was  difficult  to  get  white  troops  to  enlist.  The 
Tories,   who    opposed    the  war    against    England, 


58  A  School  History  of  the 

were  very  strong  in  several  of  the  Southern  col- 
onies. 

A  Letter  from  General  Washington  will  help  us  to 
understand  the  condition  of  affairs  in  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia.  He  wrote  to  Col.  Laurens  as 
follows :  "I  must  confess  that  I  am  not  at  all 
astonished  at  the  failure  of  your  plan.  That  spirit 
of  freedom  which,  at  the  commencement  of  this 
contest,  would  have  gladly  sacrificed  everything  to 
the  attainment  of  its  object,  has  long  since  subsided, 
and  every  selfish  passion  has  taken  its  place.  It  is 
not  the  public  but  private  interest  which  influences 
the  generality  of  mankind,  nor  can  the  Americans 
any  longer  boast  an  exception.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances it  would  rather  have  been  surprising 
if  you  had  succeeded,  nor  will  you,  I  fear,  have 
better  success  in  Georgia." 

Col.  Laurens  was  killed  in  battle,  but  he  had  not 
entirely  abandoned  his  plan  of  enlisting  the  slaves. 
But  in  spite  of  the  recommendations  of  Congress 
he  could  not  succeed,  for  the  States  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia  coveted  their  slaves  too  much  to 
allow  this  entering  wedge  to  their  ultimate  freedom. 
Had  his  plan  been  carried  out  slaver}'-  would  prob- 
ably have  been  abolished  as  soon  at  the  South  as  at 
the  North.  The  Negroes  who  would  have  come  out 
of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  would  have  set  them- 


Negro  Race   in  America.  59 

selves    to   work   to   relieve    the    condition  of  their 
brethren  in  shackles. 

Connecticut  Failed  to  endorse  the  enlistment  of 
Negroes  by  its  Legislature,  but  Mr.  Williams  in  his 
history  gives  the  roster  of  a  company  of  Negroes 
in  that  State,  numbering  fifty-seven,  with  David 
Humphreys  Captain.  White  officers  refused  to 
serve  in  the  company.  David  Humphreys  con- 
tinued at  the  head  of  this  force  until  the  war  closed. 


60  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XII. 

NEGRO  HEROES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

Among  Those  whose  blood  was  first  shed  for  the 
cause  of  American  liberty  was  the  runaway  slave, 
Crispus  -Attucks.  Having  escaped  from  his  master, 
William  Brown,  of  Framingham,  Massachusetts,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-seven,  being  then  six  feet  two 
inches  high,  with  "short,  curled  hair,"  he  made  his 
way  to  Boston.  His  master  in  1750  offered  a 
reward  of  ten  pounds  for  him,  but  Crispus  was  not 
found.  When  next  heard  from  he  turns  up  in  the 
streets  of  Boston. 

THE    LEADER    WHO    FELL    IN  THE    FAMOUS    BOSTON 
MASSACRE. 

Attucks  had  no  doubt  been  listening  to  the 
fiery  eloquence  of  the  patriots  of  those  burning 
times.  The  words  of  the  eloquent  Otis  had  kindled 
his  soul,  and  though  a  runaway  slave,  his  patriot- 
ism was  so  deep  that  he  it  was  who  sacrificed  his 
life  first  on  the  altar  of  American  Liberty. 

General  Gage,  the  English  commander,  had  taken 
possession  of  Boston.     Under  the  British  flag  gaily 


Negro  Race  in  America. 


61 


62  A  School  History  of  the 

dressed  soldiers  marched  the  streets  of  Boston  as 
through  a  conquered  city;  their  every  act  was  an 
insult  to  the  inhabitants.  Finally,  on  March  5, 
1770,  Crispus  Attucks,  at  the  head  of  a  crowd  of 
citizens,  resolved  no  longer  to  be  insulted,  and 
determining  to  resist  any  invasion  of  their  rights  as 
citizens,  a  fight  soon  ensued  on  the  street.  The 
troops  were  ordered  to  fire  on  the  "  mob,"  and 
Attucks  fell,  the  first  one,  with  three  others,  Cald- 
well, Gray,  and  Maverick.  The  town  bell  was 
rung,  the  alarm  given  and  citizens  from  the  country 
ran  into  Boston,  where  the  greatest  excitement 
prevailed. 

The  Burial  of  Attucks,  the  only  unknown  dead, 
was  from  Faneuil  Hall.  The  funeral  procession 
was  enormous,  and  many  of  the  best  citizens  of 
Boston  readily  followed  this  former  slave  and 
unknown  hero  to  an  honored  grave.  Many  orators 
spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  Crispus  Attucks.  A 
verse  mentioning  him  reads  thus  : 

"  Long  as  in  freedom's  cause  the  wise  contend, 
Dear  to  your  country  shall  your  fame  extend  ; 
While  to  the  world  the  lettered  stone  shall  tell 
Where  Caldwell,  Attucks,  Gray  and  Maverick  fell." 


Negro  Race  in  America. 


63 


P^TER  SALEM  SHOOTS  MAJOR  PITCAIRN  AT  BUNKER  HILL. 


Bunker  Hill  was  the  scene  of  a  brave  deed  by  a 
Negro  soldier.  Major  Pitcairn  was  commander  of 
the  British  forces  there.  The  battle  was  fierce; 
victory  seemed  sure  to  the  Hnglish,  when  Pitcairn 
mounted  an  eminence,  shouting  triumphantly, 
"The  day  is  ours!"  At  this  moment  the  Amer- 
icans stood  as  if  dumfounded,  when- suddenly,  with 
the  leap  of  a  tiger,  there  rushed  forth  Peter  Salem, 
who  fired  directly  at  the  officer's  breast  and  killed 
him.  Salem  was  said  to  have  been  a  slave,  of 
Framiugham,  Massachusetts.  Gen.  Warren,  who 
was  killed  in  this  battle,  greatly  eulogized  Crispus 
Attucks  for  his  bravery  in  Boston,  and  had  he  not 
been   stricken  down    so  soon,    Peter   Salem   would 


64  A  School  History  of  the 

doubtless  also  have  received  high  encomiums  from 
his  eloquent  lips. 

Five  Thousand  Negroes  are  said  to  have  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  colonies  during  the  Revolution. 
Most  of  them  were  from  the  Northern  colonies. 
There  were,  possibly,  50,000  Negroes  enlisted 
on  the  side  of  Great  Britain,  and  30,000  of  these 
were  from  Virginia. 

SOME      INDIVIDUALS     OF     REVOLUTIONARY     TIMES. 

Primus  Hall  was  body  servant  of  Col.  Picker- 
ing in  Massachusetts.  Gen.  Washington  was  quite 
intimate  with  the  Colonel  and  paid  him  many 
visits.  On  one  occasion  Washington  continued  his 
visit  till  a  late  hour,  and  being  assured  by  Primus 
that  there  were  blankets  enough  to  accommodate 
him,  he  resolved  to  spend  the  night  in  the  Colonel's 
quarters.  Accordingly,  two  beds  of  staw  were  made 
down  and  Washington  and  Col.  Pickering  retired, 
leaving  Primus  engaged  about  the  tent.  Late  in  the 
night  Gen.  Washington  awoke,  and  seeing  Primus 
sitting  on  a  box  nodding,  rose  up  in  his  bed  and  said : 
"  Primus,  what  did  you  mean  by  saying  that  you 
had  blankets  enough  ?  Have  you  given  up  your 
blanket  and  straw  to  me,  that  I  may  sleep  comfort- 
able while  you  are  obliged  to  sit  through  the  night?" 


Negro  Race  in  America.  65 

"It's  nothing,"  said  Primus;  "don't  trouble  your- 
self about  me,  General,  but  go  to  sleep  again.  No 
matter  about  me  ;  I  sleep  very  good."  "But  it  is 
matter;  it  is  matter,"  replied  Washington,  earn- 
estly. "I  cannot  do  it,  Primus.  If  either  is  to  sit 
up,  I  will.  But  I  think  there  is  no  need  of  either 
sitting  up.  The  blanket  is  wide  enough  for  two. 
Come  and  lie  down  here  with  me."  "  O,  no, 
General,"  said  Primus;  "let  me  sit  here;  I'll  do 
very  well  on  the  box."  Washington  said,  "  I  say 
come  and  lie  down  here!  There  is  room  for  both, 
and  I  insist  upon  it;"  and  as  he  spoke  he  threw  up 
the  blanket  and  moved  to  one  side  of  the  straw. 
Primus  hesitated,  but  Washington  continuing  to 
insist,  Primus  finally  prepared  himself  and  laid  down 
by  Washington,  and  on  the  same  straw,  and  under 
the  same  blanket,  where  the  General  and  the  Negro 
servant  slept  till  morning. 

Washington  is  said  to  have  been  out  walking  one 
day  in  company  with  some  distinguished  gentle- 
men, and  during  the  walk  he  met  an  old  colored 
man  who  very  politely  tipped  his  hat  and  spoke  to 
the  General.  Washington  in  turn  took  off  his  hat 
to  the  colored  man,  on  seeing  which  one  of  the 
company  in  a  jesting  manner  inquired  of  the  Gen- 
eral if  he  usually  took  off  his  hat  to  Negroes. 
WThereupon  Washington  replied:  "Politeness  is 
5 


66 


A  School  History  of  the 


cheap,  and  I  never  allow  any  one  to  be  more  polite 
to'me  than  I  to  him." 


MVA.P 


BRAVE  COLORED  ARTILLERYMAN. 


§[  Judge  Story  gives  an  account  of  a  colored  artil- 
leryman who  was  in  charge  of  a  cannon  with  a  white 
soldier  at  Bunker  Hill.  He  had  one  arm  so  badly 
wounded  he  could  not  use  it.  He  suggested  to  the 
white  soldier  that  he  change  side„s  so  as  to  use  the 
other  arm.  He  did  this,  and  while  thus  laboring 
under  pain  and  loss  of  blood  a  shot  came  which 
killed  him. 

Prince appears  in  the  attempt  to  capture 

General  Prescott  of  the  Royal  army  stationed  at 
Newport,  R.  I.  General  Lee  of  the  American 
forces  was  held  as  a  prisoner  by  the  British,  and  it 


Negro  Race  in  America.  67 

was  designed  to  capture  Prescott  so  as  to  be  able  to 
give  him  in  exchange  for  Lee.  Colonel  Barton 
planned  the  scheme,  and  set  out  to  Prescott's  sleep- 
ing apartments  in  the  night.  Prince  followed  the 
lead  of  Colonel  Barton  to  the  door.  There  the  sen- 
tinel was  seized  with  his  bayonet  at  the  Colonel's 
breast,  and  ordered  to  be  silent  on  pain  of  death, 
when  Prince  came  forward  and  with  two  strokes  at 
the  door  with  his  head  it  came  open.  Prescott  was 
seized  by  Prince  while  in  bed  and  made  a  prisoner. 
Colonel  Barton  was  presented  an  elegant  sword  for 
this  brave  exploit  which  Prince  achieved. 

Prince  Whipple  appears,  as  a  body-guard,  on  the 
picture  entitled  "Washington  Crossing  the  Dela- 
ware." 

L.    LATHAM. 

New  London,  Connecticut,  was  taken  by  the  Brit- 
ish under  command  of  Arnold,  the  traitor,  in  1781. 
The  American  troops  retreated  to  Fort  Groton,  where 
the  American  commander  Ledyard  was  in  command. 
The  British  came  up  and  overcame  the  Americans 
after  a  bold  resistance.  The  British  officer  vainly 
strode  into  the  ramparts  and  said,  "  Who  commands 
this  fort?"  Ledyard  replied,  "I  once  did;  you  do 
now,"  handing  the  Briton  his  sword  at  the  same 
Lime,  which  he  took  and  ran  through  Ledyard  up  to 


68  A  School  History  of  the 

the  hilt.  L.  Latham,  a  Negro  slave,  stood  near 
the  American.  Scarcely  had  the  British  officer's 
hand  left  the  murderous  hilt  when  Latham  stove 
him  through  with  his  bayonet.  The  enemy  rushed 
on  him,  and  after  a  most  daring  fight  he  fell,  not 
till  pierced  by  thirty-three  bayonets.  L.  Latham 
had  been  left  at  home  by  his  master  to  care  for  the 
stock  when  the  latter  left  to  help  to  defend  the  fort ; 
but  as  soon  as  he  could  unhitch  his  team  he  too 
made  haste  to  the  scene  of  the  fray,  and  the  above 
bold  deed  shows  how  deeply  he  felt  moved  to  give 
his  life  in  defence  of  his  country. 

John  Freeman  pinned  Major  Montgomery  to  the 
ground  while  he  was  being  lifted  upon  the  walls  of 
Fort  Griswold. 

Samuel  Charlton  was  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth 
and  several  others.  Washington  complimented  him 
for  his  bravery.  He  returned  to  his  master  in  New 
Jersey  after  the  war,  and  at  his  master's  death 
Charlton,  with  the  other  slaves,  was  set  free  and 
given  a  pension  during  his  life. 

James  Armistead  acted  as  scout  for  LaFayette  in 
the  Virginia  campaign.  He  returned  to  his  master 
after  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  and  was  set  free 
by  a  special  act  of  the  Virginia  Legislature. 

Negro  Soldiers  in  the  North  enlisted  with  the 
colonies  so  that  they  might  thus  get  their  freedom 


Negro  Race  in  America.  69 

from  their  Northern  masters,  while  Negro  soldiers 
in  the  South  enlisted  with  the  British,  who  promised 
freedom  to  all  who  would  join  their  ranks. 

Did  the  Negro  Soldiers  get  their  freedom  after  the 
war  of  the  Revolution  was  over  ?  We  may  say 
yes,  so  far  as  the  Northern  colonies  are  concerned, 
but  not  without  much  opposition  in  the  courts  and 
legislatures.  Virginia  also  passed  an  act  in  1783 
emancipating  the  slaves  who  had  fought  in  the 
Revolution.  Many  individual  slaves  were  eman- 
cipated by  special  acts  of  the  legislatures  for  their 
courage  and  bravery. 

George  Washington  set  his  slaves  free  by  his  will, 
and  many  slave-owners  did  the  same. 

The  slaves  who  joined  the  British  army  were 
subjected  to  all  sorts  of  horrors.  Thousands  died 
with  small-pox  and  other  contagious  diseases.  A 
great  number  were  sent  to  the  West  Indies  in 
exchange  "for  rum,  sugar,  coffee  and  fruit." 

LAFAYETTE    AND  KOSCIUSKO. 

7  LaFayette,  the  brilliant  young  Frenchman,  and 
Kosciusko,  the  generous  Pole,  volunteered  their 
services  in  behalf  of  freedom  for  the  Americans 
during  the  Revolution.  They  fought,  though,  for 
the  freedom  of  all  Americans.     LaFayette  said  in 


jo  A  School  History  of  the 

a  letter  to  a  Mr.  Clarkson  :  "  I  would  never  have 
drawn  rny  sword  in  the  cause  of  America,  if  I  could 
have  conceived  that  thereby  I  was  founding  a  land 
of  slavery." 

While  Visiting  America  in  1825,  he  expressed  a 
warm  desire  to  see  some  of  the  many  colored  sol- 
diers whom  he  "  remembered  as  participating  with 
him  in  various  skirmishes."  He  believed  in  free- 
dom to  all  men,  and  to  put  in  practice  his  anti- 
slavery  ideas  he  bought  a  plantation  in  French 
Guiana.  There  he  collected  all  the  "  whips  and 
other  instruments  of  torture  and  punishment, 
and  made  a  bonfire  of  them  in  the  presence  of  the 
assembled  slaves." 

He  Gave  One  Day  in  each  week  to  the  slaves,  and 
as  soon  as  cue  could  earn  enough  he  might  pur- 
chase another  day,  and  so  on  until  he  gained  his 
freedom. 

Kosciusko  Expressed  great  sorrow  to  learn  that 
the  colored  men  who  served  in  the  Revolution  were 
not  thereby  to  gain  their  freedom.  He  left  $20,000 
in  the  hands  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  to  be  used  in 
educating  colored  children. 


Negro    Race  in  America.  71 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  WAR  OF  18 12. 

The  War  of  the  Revolution  ended  in  1781  at 
Yorktown.  Many  of  the  brave  Negroes  who  shed 
their  blood  and  helped  to  win  America's  liberty 
from  England  were,  as  soon  as  the  war  closed, 
put  back  into  bondage.  They  were  in  the  "  Land 
of  the  Free,"  but  themselves  slaves.  Other  trou- 
bles arose  very  soon  between  England  and  Amer- 
ica. Bngland  still  kept  standing  armies  in  Amer- 
ica, and  claimed  the  right  to  search  American 
vessels  for  British  sailors  who  had  deserted.  They 
often  took  off  American  seamen. 

One  Negro  and  Two  White  sailors  were  taken 
from  the  American  man-of-war  "  Chesapeake"  after 
she  had  been  fired  upon.  Canada  gave  arms  to  and 
incited  the  Indians  in  the  Northwest  against  the 
Americans.  Finally,  in  18 12,  war  was  declared 
during  Madison's  Administration. 

Negro  Troops  were  very  much  needed,  as  the 
Americans  had  a  very  poor  navy,  and  England 
having  whipped  the  French  was  now  ready  to  turn 
all  her  forces  against  America. 

A  Call  for  Volunteers  from  the  Union  was  issued, 
and  many  thousands  of  free  Negroes  answered  the 


72  A  School  History  of  the 

call.  The  slaves  were  not  allowed  to  enlist  in  the  mili- 
tia.   Gen.  Jackson  thus  spoke  to  his  colored  troops: 

"  To  the  Men  of  Color — Soldiers :  From  the  shores 
of  Mobile  I  collected  you  to  arms.  I  invited  you  to 
share  in  the  perils  and  to  divide  the  glory  with  your 
white  countrymen.  I  expected  much  from  you, 
for  I  was  not  uninformed  of  those  qualities  which 
must  render  you  so  formidable  to  an  invading  foe. 
I  knew  that  you  could  endure  hunger  and  thirst 
and  all  the  hardships  of  war.  I  knew  that  you 
loved  the  land  of  your  nativity,  and  that,  like  our- 
selves, you  had  to  defend  all  that  is  most  dear  to 
man.  But  yon  have  surpassed  all  my  hopes.  I  have 
found  in  you,  united  to  these  qualities,  that  noble 
enthusiasm  which  impels  to  great  deeds. 

"Soldiers,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  informed  of  your  conduct  on  the  present 
occasion,  and  the  voice  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  American  Nation  shall  applaud  your  valor  as 
your  General  now  praises  your  ardor.  The  enemy 
is  near.  His  sails  cover  the  lakes ;  but  the  brave 
are  united,  and  if  he  finds  us  contending  among 
ourselves,  it  will  be  for  the  prize  of  valor,  and  fame, 
it's  noblest  reward." 

The  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  we  will  remember, 
ended  in  defeat  for  the  British.  Over  two  thousand 
were  lost  to  the  British,  while   the  American  loss 


Negro  Race  in  America.  jt> 

was  seven  killed  and  six  wounded.  There  were 
over  four  hundred  Negroes,  in  this  battle,  and  they 
occupied  "no  mean  place  and  did  no  mean  service." 
The  British  had  a  battalion  of  Negroes  from  the 
Island  of  San  Domingo  in  this  battle.  The  idea 
of  fortifying  the  city  with  cotton  is  said  to  have  been 
the  suggestion  of  a  slave  who  was  a  native  African, 
and  learned  this  mode  of  defence  from  the  Arabs. 

Mr.  D.  Lee  Child,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  states 
that  the  famous  cotton  breast-works,  recognized  the 
world  over  as  a  stroke  of  genius  on  the- part  of 
Gen.  Jackson,  was  the  suggestion  of  a  colored  man, 
a  native  African.  He  gives  some  data  from  a  Por- 
tugese manuscript  to  prove  that  this  mode  of 
defence  is  in  practice  among  the  native  Africans, 
who  thus  defend  their  wives  and  children  against 
the  Arabs.  Gen.  Jackson,  of  course,  would  be 
loath  to  admit  that  the  suggestion  came  from  a 
Negro,  especially  when  the  deed  won  extra  laurels 
for  himself. 

NEGROES    IN    THE    NAVY    OF    l8l2. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  discrimination  against 
any  class  of  citizens  joining  our  navy;  nor  is  there 
now.  About  one-fifth  of  the  marines  were  Negroes. 
That  they  did  valuable  service  is  testified   to   by 


74  -A  School  History  of  the 

numerous  commanders.  Read  what  Commander 
Nathaniel  Shaler  of  the  "private  armed"  schooner 
"Governor  Tompkins"  says,  in  a  letter  dated — 

"At  Sea,  Jan.  i,  1813. 

"  My  officers  conducted  themselves  in  a  way  that 
would  have  done  honor  to  a  more  permanent  ser- 
vice. *  *  *  The  name  of  one  of  my  poor  fel- 
lows who  was  killed  ought  to  be  registered  in  the 
book  of  fame,  and  remembered  with  reverence  as 
long  as  bravery  is  a  virtue.  He  was  a  black  man 
by  the  name  of  John  Johnson.  A  twenty -four 
pound  shot  struck  him  in  the  hip  and  took  away 
all  the  lower  part  of  his  body.  In  this  state  the 
poor,  brave  fellow  lay  on  the  deck,  and  several  times 
exclaimed  to  his  shipmates,  ' Fire  away,  my  boys; 
no  haul  a  color  down ! '  The  other  was  a  black 
man  by  the  name  of  John  Davis,  and  was  struck  in 
much  the  same  way.  He  fell  near  me,  and'several 
times  requested  4o  be  thrown  overboard,  saying  he 
was  only  in  the  way  of  others.  While  America 
has  such  tars,  she  has  little  to  fear  from  the  tyrants 
of  the  ocean." 

Captain  Perry  had  command  of  the  American 
fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  He  objected  to  recruits  Isent 
him,  and  described  them  in  a  letter  to  Commodore 
Chauncey  as  "a  motley  set — blacks,  soldiers   and 


Negro  Race  in  America.  75 

boys."  Commodore  Chauncey  replied:  "I  regret 
that  you  are  not  pleased  with  the  men  sent  you. 
*  *  *  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  color  of  the 
skin,  or  the  cut  and  trimmings  of  the  coat,  can 
affect  a  man's  qualifications  or  usefulness.  I  have 
fifty  blacks  on  board  this  ship,  and  many  of  them 
are  among  my  best  men." 

Usher  Parsons,  Surgeon  of  the  "Java,"  under 
Comodore  Perry,  wrote  that  .the  whites  and  blacks 
of  his  ship  messed  together,  and  there  seemed  to 
be  no  prejudice. 

The  End  of  the  War  of  1812  meant  victory  for 
America,  and  the  Negro  had  scored  a  telling  point 
in  behalf  of  his  recognition  as  an  American  citi- 
zen.    But  still  many  were  in  slavery. 

Major  Jeffreys,  a  "regular,"  during  the  engage- 
ment of  Major-General  Andrew  Jackson  at  Mobile, 
mounted  a  horse  and  rallied  the  retreating  troops 
to  victory  against  the  British,  when  the  white  com- 
manders were  forced  to  retire  and  defeat  seemed 
certain.  Gen.  Jackson  gave  him  the  title  of  Major, 
which  he  bore  till  his  death  in  Nashville,  Tenn. 
He  was  much  respected  by  all  classes.  On  one 
occasion  a  white  ruffian  insulted  him.  Words 
ensued,  and  Major  Jeffreys  was  forced  to  strike  the 
white  man  in  self-defence.  For  this,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years,  this  veteran,  who  had  won  a  victory 


J 6  A  School  History  of  the 

for  his  country  on  the  battle-field,  was  ordered  to 
be  given  "  nine  and  thirty  lashes  with  a  rawhide." 
He  did  not  recover  from  the  effects  of  this  treat- 
ment, and  soon  died  of  a  broken  heart. 

Jordon  Noble  was  among  the  colored  veterans  of 
the  War  of  1812.  For  a  long  time  after  the  war 
he  lived  in  New  Orleans,  where  he  was  brought 
out  on  every  great  occasion  to  give  enthusiasm. 
Jordon  Noble's  name  appearing  in  connection  with 
any  great  occasion  was  sufficient  guarantee  of 
a  tremendous  crowd.  He  was  drummer  to  the 
First  Regiment  Louisiana  Volunteers  in  the  Mex- 
ican War  of  1846,  and  led  the  attack  against  the 
British  in  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans  under  Jack- 
son [in  1814.  He  was  known  as  the  "matchless 
drummer." 


Negro  Race   in  America.  77 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EFFORTS  FOR  FREEDOM. 

The  War  of  1S12  was  now  over.  America 
remained  at  peace  with  other  nations  about  thirty- 
two  years  when  the  Mexican  war  broke  out  in  1S46. 
During  this  interval,  a  war  of  words  between 
Americans  themselves  was  waged ;  and  there  were 
heroes  in  this  contest,  many  of  them  Negroes  and 
former  slaves,  and  some  of  them  women,  who  merit 
equal  rank  with  the  brave  heroes  of  former  battles. 

The  Abolitionists  who  were  opposed  to  slavery, 
furnished  many  brave  hearts  and  strong  minds 
from  their  ranks.  Their  work  began  very  early  in 
the  history  of  the  colonies;  it  continued  with  slow 
growth  for  awhile,  but  nevertheless  certain  and 
effectual.  The  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania  were  fore- 
most in  the  work  of  abolition.  They  set  nearly 
all  their  slaves  free.  Anti-slavery  societies  were 
formed  in  nearly  all  the  Northern  States. 

Benjamin  Lundy  is  mentioned  as  the  earliest 
leader  of  the  Abolitionists.  He  published  a  paper 
called  The  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation. 
He  visited  nineteen  States  of  the  Union,  travelled 
upwards  of  five  thousand  miles  on  foot,  and  more 


78  A  School  History  of  the 

than  twenty  thousand  in  other  ways,  and  held  more 
than  two  hundred  public  meetings.  Lundy's  paper 
was  not  regarded  as  very  dangerous  to  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery ;  but  the  Journal  of  the  Times, 
published  first  at  Bennington,  Vermont,  in  support 
of  J.  Q.  Adams  for  the  presidency,  became  the 
inveterate  foe  to  slavery  under  the  editorship  of 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  who  was  mobbed  in  the 
streets  of  Boston,  and  imprisoned  for  libel  in  the 
city  of  Baltimore  for  denouncing  the  crew  of  the 
ship  "  Francis  Todd,"  on  board  of  which  were 
many  ill-treated  slaves  bound  for  the  slave  marts 
of  New  Orleans.  Garrison  and  Lundy  united  in 
getting  out  The  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipa- 
tion at  Baltimore. 

Arthur  Tappan,  before  this,  paid  Garrison's  fine, 
and  the  enemy  to  slavery  commenced  his  war  with 
more  vigor  and  zeal  than  before.  In  1831  The 
Liberator  was  first  published  by  Garrison,  and,  as 
was  his  desire,  it  continued  till  "every  slave  in 
America  was  free." 

A  "Colored  Man,"  James  Forten,  sent  $50 among 
the  first  twenty-five  subscriptions  that  came  to  The 
Liberator.  Garrison  thought  it  his  duty  to  obey 
God  rather  than  man,  and  he  denounced  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  as  being  a  "Cove- 
nant with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell," 
because  he  held  that  it  supported  slavery. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  79 

The  National  Anti-slavery  Convention,  white,  was 
held  in  1836:  they  had  delegates  from  ten  States, 
and  1,006  anti-slavery  societies  existed  in  the  dif- 
ferent States. 

The  Free  Colored  People  of  the  North  also  held 
an  anti-slavery  convention  in  1831.  Their  first 
work  was  to  get  recognition  from  the  white  organ- 
izations, who  shut  them  out.  The  "Anti-slavery 
Free  Women  of  America"  organized  in  1837  in 
New  York.  Mary  S.  Parker  was  President,  Ange- 
lina E.  Grimkie,  Secretary. 

Miss  Sarah  Forten  addressed  the  following  verses 
to  lifer  white  sisters  in  behalf  of  co-operation : 

"We  are  thy  sisters.     God  has  truly  said, 
That  of  one  blood  all  nations  He  has  made. 
O  Christian  woman  !  in  a  Christian  laud, 
Canst  thou  unblushing  read  this  great  command  ? 
Suffer  the  wrongs  which  wring  our  inmost  heart, 
To  draw  one  throb  of  pity  on  thy  part? 
Our  skins  may  differ,  but  from  thee  we  claim 
A  sister's  privilege  and  a  sister's  name." 

Soon  After  This  the  free  Negroes  of  the  North  acted 
together  with  the  whites  in  the  great  fight  against 
slavery.  Negro  orators  told  in  eloquent  style  the 
sad  story  of  the  bondage  of  their  race. 

Frederick  Douglass,  once  a  slave  in  Maryland, 
electrified  the  whole   country  with  his  eloquence. 


80  A  School  History  of  the 

He  stood  then,  and  now,  as  a  living,  breathing, 
convincing  argument  against  the  claim  that  the 
Negro's  intellectual  capacities  fit  him  only  for 
slavery.  Mr.  Douglass  visited  Europe  and  was 
received  there  with  an  ovation,  for  the  cause  of 
the  slave  had  leaped  across  the  Atlantic  and  touched 
a  sympathetic  chord  in  many  a  British  heart. 

Many  Books  were  written  by  Negroes,  as  well  as 
whites.  Frederick  Douglass  wrote,  "My  Bondage 
and  My  Freedom";  Bishop  Loguen,  "  As  a  Slave 
and  as  a  Freeman";  other  works  by  Rev.  Samuel 
R.  Ward,  Rev.  Austin  Stewart,  Solomon  Northorp, 
Dr.  Win.  Wells  Brown,  and  others.  Wm.  Whip- 
per  edited  an  Abolition  paper,  known  as  the  National 
Reformer. 

Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  was  the  most  read,  and  the  most  effectual 
work  against  slavery. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  81 

CHAPTER  XV. 

LIBERIA. 

The  Republic  of  Liberia  was  founded  in  1816  by 
the  American  Colonization  Society  as  a  place  of 
refuge  and  safety  to  the  colored  people  of  America 
who,  before  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  various 
States,  had  been  set  free  by  their  masters;  or, 
through  industry,  had  purchased  their  liberty  them- 
selves. It  is  located  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa, 
in  South  Sierra  Leone,  and  is  very  productive  of 
rice,  coffee,  indigo,  peanuts,  arrowroot,  sugar, 
pepper,  logwood,  palm  oil  and  cotton.  Gold  and 
other  minerals  are  found  in  considerable  quantities. 
The  climate  seems  ill  adapted  to  the  American 
Negro. 

Mr.  Jehudi  Ashmun  was  the  pioneer  in  planting 
the  colony,  assisted  by  Lott  Carey.  The  natives 
resisted  the  settlers,  and  for  the  first  six  years  there 
were  continual  attempts  to  drive  them  out.  Mr. 
Ashmun's  health  finally  failed  and  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  colony,  now  numbering  1,200 
free  Americans,  to  themselves  in  this  new  and 
wild  land.  They  shed  bitter  tears  on  his  depar- 
ture, some  clinging  even  to  his  garments.  But 
6 


82  A  School  History  of  the 

U. 

left  to  themselves,  the  Negroes  did  not  lose  all 
hope.  They  set  about  to  found  a  government  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  United  States.  They  elected 
their  first  president,  Roberts,  organized  a  cabinet, 
established  schools,  made  labor  obligatory,  and 
their  flag  is  now  recognized  by  the  nations  of 
Europe  and  the  United  States. 

Its  Population  is  now  over  20,000  Negroes  who 
went  from  America,  or  their  descendants.  The 
influence  of  Liberia  is  exercised  over  a  million 
people  along  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.  They  speak 
English,  and  from  them  many  tribes  have  learned 
our  language  and  the  arts  of  civilization.  The 
United  States  has  sent  four  Ministers  to  represent 
her  at  Monrovia,  the  Liberian  capital,  viz.,  from 
North  Carolina,  Messrs.  J.  H.  Smythe,  Moses  A. 
Hopkins  and  E.  E.  Smith;  from  New  York,  Henry 
H.  Garnet.  The  exports  of  Liberia  aggregate  about 
three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  annually. 

Success  has  thus  far  attended  the  country,  though 
the  climate,  atmosphere,  and  the  surroundings  are 
most  unfavorable  and  unstimulating.  The  fact 
that  these  colored  people  have  succeeded,  shows 
what  the  race  can  do  under  favorable  circumstances. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  83 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

FREDERICK  DOUGLASS. 

This  great  man  is  well  known  to  the  world.  He  is 
a  conspicuons  representative  of  the  talents  and 
capabilities  possessed  by  the  colored  race.  Born  a 
slave  on  a  plantation  in  Maryland,  he  has  grad- 
ually, by  industry  and  patient  labor,  worked  him- 
self to  the  highest  rank  of  honor,  both  in  America 
and  Europe.  When  Frederick  Douglass  speaks  the 
world  listens.  He  is  as  much  quoted  as  any  liv- 
ing American  statesman. 

The  first  ten  years  of  Mr.  Douglass'  youth  were 
spent  on  one  of  the  many  plantations  of  a  rich 
planter  named  Lloyd,  in  the  State  of  Maryland. 
He  was  separated  from  his  mother,  who  only  saw 
him  at  long  intervals.  He,  with  the  other  little 
slave  boys,  grew  up  from  almost  infancy  in  their 
tow  shirts,  with  their  ash-cake  rations  and  fre- 
quent beatings,  given  them  by  a  certain  "old  Aunt 
Kate,"  who  had  charge  of  the  children  on  the  plan- 
tation. In  this  wild  way,  young  Fred  was  left  to 
grow  up  as  best  he  could  among  the  rough  farm 
hands  and  without  a  mother's  care.  He  describes 
his  mother  to  have  been    a  noble-looking  woman, 


84 


A  School  History  of  the 


jtm^,  • 


FREDERICK  DOUGLASS 


Negro  Race  in  America.  85 

with  the  deepest  of  motherly  affection  and  very  fond 
of  him,  as  shown  by  her  running  dangerous  risks 
and  walking  long  miles  to  see  him. 

At  the  age  often  years  he  was  sent  by  his  "Old 
Master  "  to  live  with  his  young  mistress,  in  Balti- 
more, who  was  connected  with  the  Lloyd  family. 
This  young  lady  became  attached  to  him,  and 
tanght  him  to  read.  He  learned  to  rer.d  the  Bible 
and  made  such  rapid  progress  that  the  young  lady, 
feeling  very  proud  of  her  work,  told  her  husband. 
When  he  found  it  out  he  forbade  her  teaching  him 
any  further,  saying  it  was  unlawful,  "could  only 
lead  to  mischief,"  and,  "if  }-Tou  give  a  nigger  an 
inch  he  will  take  an  ell."  Nevertheless,  Fred  soon 
became  proficient  in  reading,  and  he  learned  to 
write  by  the  models  in  his  3'oung  master's  copy- 
book. He  bought  a  book  called  the  Columbian 
Orator,  in  which  he  found  speeches  from  Sheridan, 
Lord  Chatham,  William  Pitt  and  Fox.  These  he 
read  many  times  and  gained  much  mental  help  from 
them. 

Finally,  young  Fred,  whose  mind  now  was 
enlightened,  became  so  dissatisfied  with  his  posi- 
tion as  a  slave  that  he  grew  morose  and  gloomy. 
His  young  mistress  chided  him  for  this  conduct, 
and  it  finally  became  necessary  to  hire  him  out. 
He  soon  found  a  good  opportunity  and  ran   away 


86  A  School  Histo7y  of  the 

to  New  Bedford,  Mass.  Here  he  found  employment 
and  spent  his  leisure  time  in  study.  He  read  Scott's 
"Lady  of  the  Lake,"  and  there  came  across  the  name 
of  Douglass,  which  he  for  the  first  time  assumed. 
He  attended  church;  was  surprised  to  see  the  col- 
ored people  transacting  their  own  business.  Some 
of  the  first  money  he  earned  in  New  Bedford  was 
invested  in  a  subscription  to  The  Liberator.  He 
was  not  long  in  coming  to  the  front.  His  story  of 
escape  from  slavery  was  told  in  the  various 
churches,  and  the  year  1841  found  him  on  the 
stage  before  an  anti-slavery  convention  at  Nan- 
tucket. A  tremendous  crowd  was  present,  and  the 
wildest  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Mr.  William  Lloyd 
Garrison  followed  Mr.  Douglass  with  a  strong 
speech  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Mr.  Douglass' 
career  thus  begun,  continued;  he  spoke  often  and 
mightily  for  the  cause  of  freedom.  He  became 
the  leading  orator  of  the  time,  and  his  presence 
was  sufficient  to  draw  a  crowd  in  the  bitterest  pro- 
slavery  community. 

Since  freedom,  Mr.  Douglass  has  held  several 
important  positions  under  the  National  Govern- 
ment. He  was  once  Recorder  of  Deeds  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  is  now  Minister  to  the 
Haytian  Republic. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  87 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NAT.  TURNER  AND  OTHERS  WHO  "STRUCK" 
FOR  FREEDOM. 

Nathaniel  Turner  is  well  remembered  by  many 
of  the  older  people  of  Southampton,  Virginia,  as 
being  the  leader  of  the  famous  "  Nat  Turner  Insur- 
rection" of  that  county.  He  was  an  unusually 
bright  child,  having  learned. to  read  and  write  with 
such  skill  and  rapidity  that  his  own  people  and  the 
neighbors  regarded  him  as  a  prodigy.  It  is  said 
that  his  mother  predicted  that  he  would  be  a  prophet 
in  his  presence  one  day,  and  he  remembered  her  pre- 
diction till  he  grew  older.  Turner  devoted  him- 
self to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  condi- 
tion of  his  people.  He  believed  his  lot  was  to  set 
them  free.  He  had  visions  of  white  and  black 
spirits  fighting  in  battle.  He  imagined  a  voice 
spoke  thus  to  him  in  the  vision:  "Such  is  your 
luck ;  such  yon  are  called  to  see,  and  let  it  come 
rough  or  smooth  you  must  bear  it."  He  thought 
while  laboring  in  the  fields  "he  discovered  drops  of 
blood  on  the  corn,  as  though  it  were  dew  from 
heaven,"  and  saw  on  the  leaves  of  the  trees  pic- 
tures of  men  written  in  blood. 


88  A  School  History  of  the 

A  Plan  of  Insurrection  was  devised  in  the  month 
of  February,  183 1.  Nat,  together  with  four  of 
his  friends,  Sam  Edwards,  Henry  Porter,  Nelson 
Williams  and  Hark  Travis,  held  a  council  of  war, 
as  it  were,  in  some  lonely,  desolate  spot  in  the  woods, 
where  they  discussed  the  project  of  freeing  the 
slaves.  Nat  said  in  his  speech  that  his  purpose 
was  not  to  shed  blood  wantonly ;  but  in  order  to 
arouse  his  brethren  he  believed  it  necessary  to  kill 
such  of  the  whites  as  would  be  most  likely  to  give 
them  trouble.  He,  like  John  Brown,  expected  his 
slave  brethren  to  join  him. 

The  Fatal  Stroke  was  given  in  the  month  of 
August,  183 1.  The  first  house  visited  was  that  of 
a  Mr.  Joseph  Travis.  While  on  the  way  a  slave 
from  this  plantation  joined  Nat's  party.  He  was 
a  giant  of  a  man,  athletic,  quick,  and  best  man  on 
the  muscle  in  the  county,  and  was  known  as  "  Will." 
The  slaves  were  armed  with  axes  and  knives,  and 
killed  indiscriminately,  young  and  old,  fifty-seven 
white  persons  before  they  were  killed  or  captured. 

Several  Artillery  Companies  from  Richmond, 
seventy  miles  off,  Petersburg,  Norfolk  and  Ports- 
mouth, with  one  cavalry  company,  were  ordered 
out  to  take  Nat  and  his  followers.  In  a  hand-to- 
hand  struggle  Will  fell.  His  last  words  were 
"Bury    my    axe    with    me."      Nat    escaped    with 


Negro  Race  in  America.  89 

some  others  to  the  swamps  where  he  eluded  the 
whites  for  nearly  three  months.  After  surrender- 
ing he  was  brought  into  court  and  answered  Not 
Guilty  to  the  inquiry  of  the  Judge.  The  trial  was 
Sfone  through  with.  Nat  was  convicted  and  con- 
demned  to  die  on  the  gallows.  He  received  the 
sentence  with  total  indifference,  but  made  a  proph- 
ecy that  on  the  day  of  his  execution  unusual  occur- 
rences would  appear  in  the  heavens;  the  sun  would 
be  darkened  and  immense  clouds  would  appear,  and 
threatening  lightning.  Many  of  the  people  believed 
it.  The  Sheriff  could  find  no  one  willing  to  cut  the 
rope,  but  a  drunken  sot,  crazed  by  liquor,  did  the 
act  for  pay.  The  day  of  execution,  as  Nat  had 
prophesied,  was  one  of  stormy  and  gloomy  aspect, 
with  terrible  thunder,  rain  and  lightning.  Nat 
kept  up  his  courage  to  the  last,  and,  his  neck  in  the 
noose,  not  a  muscle  quivered  or  a  groan  was  uttered. 
He  was  undoubtedly  a  wonderful  character.  Know- 
ing, as  he  did,  the  risk  he  ran,  what  an  immense 
courage  he  must  have  had  to  have  undertaken  his 
bold  adventure.  He  was  thus  spoken  of  by  a  Mr. 
Gray,  who  interviewed  him:  "It  has  been  said  that 
he  was  ignorant  and  cowardly,, and  his  purpose  was 
to  murder  and  rob.  It  is  notorious  that  he  was 
never  known  to  have  a  dollar  in  his  life,  to  swear 
an  oath,  or  drink  a  drop  of  spirits.  He  can  read 
and  write,  and  for  natural  intelligence  and  quick- 


90  A  School  History  ■  of  the 

ness  of  apprehension  is  surpassed  by  few  men  I 
have  ever  seen."* 

Avery  Watkins,  a  colored  preacher,  of  Rocking- 
ham, North  Carolina,  and,  grandfather  of  Rev. 
R.  H.  W.  Leak,  a  prominent  minister  in  the 
A.  M.  E-  Conference  of  North  Carolina,  is  said 
to  have  been  hanged  in  Rockingham,  North 
Carolina,  charged  with  endorsing  the  Nat.  Turner 
Insurrection,  because  in  a  private  conversation  with 
his  family  he  related  to  them  something  of  what 
Nat.  Turner  was  doing  in  Southampton,  where  he 
had  lately  been  on  a  visit  to  his  grandmother. 
According  to  the  account  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Quick,  he 
was  taken  by  a  mob  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  tried 
and  hung  in  the  same  month  in  the  year  1831. 

Madison  Washington  was  the"  name  of  a  brave 
slave  who.  being  a  part  of  a  cargo  of  135  slaves 
en-route  to  New  Orleans  from  Virginia,  when  the 
boat  was  eight  days  out  organized  the  slaves,  made 
an  onslaught  on  the  officers,  took  possession  of  the 
boat  and  carried  it  to  Nassau,  an  Bnglish  posses- 
sion, where  England  gave  them  protection;  refus- 


*One  author  says:  "Upwards  of  one  hundred  slaves  were  slaughtered  in  the 
Southampton  Tragedy,  many  of  them  in  cold  blood  while  walking  in  the  streets — 
and  about  sixty  white  persons.  Some  of  the  alleged  conspirators  had  their"  noses 
and  ears  cut  off,  the  flesh  of  their  cheeks  cut  out,  their  jaws  broken  asunder, 
and  in  that  condition  they  were  set  up  as  marks  to  be  shot  at.  The  whites  burnt 
one  with  red-hot  irons,  cut  off  his  ears  and  nose,  stabbed  him,  cut  his,hamstrings, 
stuck  him  like  a  hog,  and  at  last  cut  off  his  head  and  spiked  it  to'the  whipping 
post." 


Negro  Race   in  America.  91 

ingto  surrender  them  as  "  murderers  and  mutineers 
to  perish  on  Southern  gibbets." 

The  Kindness  of  Washington,  in  dressing  the  Cap- 
tain's wounds  and  protecting  aud  caring  for  his  wife 
and  children,  marked  him  as  a  most  magnanimous 
foe.  Only  one  white  man  of  the  twelve  command- 
ing the  ship  was  killed.  He  having  fired  into  the 
slaves  came  at  them  with  a  spike,  thereupon  he  was 
stabbed  by  one  of  Washington's  men  who  wrenched 
a  bowie  knife  from  the  hands  of  the  Captain. 
Washington's  only  wish  was,  not  blood,  but  free- 
dom, which  he  gained. 

"  THE    VIRGINIA    MAROONS." 

The  Famous  Dismal  Swamp,  some  fifty  miles  long, 
extending  from  Norfolk,  Virginia,  into  North  Caro- 
lina, was  a  noted  rendezvous  for  runaway  slaves 
before  the  civil  war.  It  is  estimated  that  the  slave 
property  in  this  swamp  was  worth  a  million  and  a 
half  dollars.  They  carried  on  a  secret  trade  with 
the  Virginia  merchants,  but  any  merchant  caught 
fostering  these  people  by  trading  with  them  was 
punished  severely  by  law.  The  traders  who  were 
pursued  found  shelter  among  the  maroons  of  the 
swamp.  The  chivalry  of  the  Old  Dominion  never 
dared  venture  into  this  colony,  and  blood-hounds 


92  A  School  History  of  the 

* 
sent  in  came  out  no  more.  The  Dismal  Swamp 
colony  continued  from  generation  to  generation, 
defying  and  outwitting  the  slave-owners  right  in 
the  midst  of  one  of  the  strongest  slave-holding 
communities  in  the  South. 

"the  amistad  ca'ptives." 

Fifty-four  Africans  on  board  the  Spanish  slave 
schooner  "Amistad,"  under  Captain  Ramon  Ferrer, 
on  June  28,  1839,  sailed  from  Havana,  Cuba,  for 
Porto  Principe,  another  place  on  the  island  of 
Cuba,  about  three  hundred  miles  distant  from 
Havana.  The  fifty-four  slaves  were  just  from 
Lemboko,  their  native  country  in  Africa.  Joseph 
Cinquez,  son  of  an  African  prince,  was  among 
them.  He  was  shrewd,  brave  and  intelligent.  He 
looked  on  with  disgust  at  the  cruel  treatment  given 
him  and  his  fellow-slaves,  some  being  "  chained 
down  between  the  decks — space  not  more  than  four 
feet — by  their  wrists  and  ankles ;  forced  to  eat  rice, 
sick  or  well,  and  whipped  upon  the  slightest  provo- 
cation." Cinquez  witnessed  the  brutality  as  long 
as  his  noble  nature  would  allow,  and  when  they 
were  about  five  nights  out  from  Havana,  he  chose 
a  company  of  confederates  from  among  his  breth- 
ren and  made    an   assault  on   the    Captain  of  the 


Negro  Race   in  America.  93 

* 
boat,  and  took  him  and  his  crew  prisoners.  Two 
sailors  struck  out  for  land  when  they  found  their 
Captain  and  cook  in  chains,  and  left  the  boat  in  full 
possession  of  the  Negroes.  The  man  at  the  helm 
(Montes)  was  ordered  to  steer  direct  for  Africa, 
under  pain  of  death.  This  he  did  by  day,  but  at 
night  would  make  towards  the  coast  of  America. 
Finally,  after  continual  wandering,  the  vessel  was 
cited  off  the  coast  of  the  United  States  in  August. 
All  the  ports  were  notified,  and  a  number  of  rev- 
enue cutters  were  dispatched  after  her.  She  was 
finally  captured  on  the  26th  of  August,  1839,  by 
Lieut.  Gidney  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and  the 
"Amistad"  and  her  fifty-four  Africans  were  lauded 
in  New  London,  Connecticut.  The  two  Spaniards 
found  on  board  the  vessel  were  examined  by  the 
United  States  officials,  and  the  whole  number  of 
Africans  were  bound  over  to  await  trial  as  pirates. 
They  being  unable  to  give  bond  of  course  went. to 
prison,  but  not  to  stay  long.  Public  sentiment 
was  everywhere  aroused  in  their  favor.  The  anti- 
slavery  friends  organized  schools  among  them; 
the  Africans  learned  rapidly  and  soon  told  all  the 
details  of  the  capture  of  the  "Amistad"  in  English 
from  their  own  lips  without  an  interpreter.  The 
trial  occupied  several  months,  during  which  they 
busied  themselves  in  cultivating  a  garden  of  fifteen 
acres  in   a  most  skillful  and    intelligent  manner. 


94  A  School  History  of  the 

Their  grievances  were  told  all  over  America  and 
aroused  the  sympathies  of  the  people.  Finally,  the 
court  decided  that  the  "Amistad  captives"  were 
not  slaves,  but  freemen.  A  thrill  of  joy  passed 
through  many  an  American  heart,  as  well  as  their 
own.  When  the  news  of  this  decision  spread  abroad 
subscriptions  began  to  come  in.  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan 
took  a  lively  interest  in  the  Africans,  and  in  one 
way  and  another  soon  got  together  enough  money 
to  send  them  home  to  Africa,  where  they  so  much 
wanted  to  go.  "If  'Merica  men  offered  me  as 
much  gold  as  fill  this  cap,"  said  one,  "and  give  me 
houses,  land,  and  everything,  so  dat  I  stay  in  this 
country,  I  say  No!  No!!  I  want  to  see  my  father, 
my  mother,  my  brother,  my  sister."  One  said, 
"We  owe  everything  to  God;  he  keeps  us  alive, 
and  makes  us  free.  When  we  go  home  to  Mendi, 
we  tell  our  brethren  about  God,  Jesus  Christ  and 
Heaven."  One  was  asked,  if  he  was  again  cap- 
tured and  about  to  be  sold  into  slavery,  would  he 
murder  the  captain  and  cook  of  another  vessel,  and 
if  he  wouldn't  pray  for  rather  than  kill  them? 
Cinquez  heard  it  and  replied,  shaking  his  head, 
"Yes;  I  would  pray  for  'em  and  kill  'em  too." 

These  people  were  sent  to  Sierra  Leone  in  Africa 
in  company  with  five  sainted  missionaries.  Great 
Britain  sent  them  from  Sierra  Leone  to  their  homes, 
and  thus  their  efforts  for  freedom  were  successful. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  95 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ANTI-SLAVERY  AGITATION. 

Slavery  or  No  Slavery  was  the  question  now 
before  the  American  people.  Millions  of  tracts, 
pamphlets,  circulars  and  newspapers,  besides  the 
ministers  and  orators  of  the  North,  were  now  mak- 
ing sentiment  against  slavery.  The  people  of  the 
North  were  aroused. 

The  Census  of  1850  gave  a  population  of  three 
and  one-half  million  slaves  in  America,  and  they 
lived  in  the  States  of  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  Arkansas,  Utah  Territory,  Kentucky, 
Missouri  and  Tennessee.  Soon  after  this  New 
Jersey,  Delaware  and  Maryland  freed  their  slaves. 

The  Political  Parties  were  forced  to  take  up  the 
slavery  question.  The  politicians  were  wily, 
and  yielded  to  both  sides  for  policy's  sake.  The 
South  opposed  every  legislative  act  that  favored 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  The  great  Daniel  Web- 
ster hesitated  to  take  a  decided  stand  either  way, 
and  in  1858  Charles  Sumner,  a  staunch  anti-slavery 
man,  came  to   the  Senate  from   Massachusetts  in 


96  A  School  History  of  the 

Webster's  place.  Mr.  Sumner  said  more  and  did 
more  for  the  freedom  of  the  slave  than  any  of  the 
great  statesmen  of  his  time.  He  offered  no  com- 
promise, and  asked  only  for  liberty  to  the  slaves. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  allowed  masters  to  cap- 
ture their  slaves  in  any  State  of  the  Union.  Hence 
arose  the  underground  railroad,  which  was  a  secret 
system  for  transporting  runaway  slaves  into  Canada. 
Some  slaves  were  sent  in  boxes,  and  some  carried 
in  the  night  from  one  person  to  another  until  they 
reached  the  Canadian  line.  A  great  many  runaway 
slaves  made  good  their  escape  through  this  system.* 

New  States  coming  into  the  Union  caused  great 
discussion  as  to  whether  they  should  come  in  as 
free  States  or  slave  States.  Civil  war  broke  out  in 
Kansas  between  the  inhabitants  of  that  Territory 
who  wanted,  and  those  who  did  not  want,  slaves. 
The  anti-slavery  people  were  led  by  John  Brown, 
afterwards  the  leader  in  an  attempt  to  capture  the 
arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  and  arm  the 
slaves.     He  was  hung  as  an  insurrectionist. 

Opposition  in  the  North  to  the  Abolitionists  was 
manifested  by  the  commercial  people,  who  saw 
nothing  in  the  whole  question  but  the  dollars  and 
cents  which  they  hoped  to  make  out  of  the  slave's 


*See  Underground  Railroad,  by  Wm.  Still. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  97 

products  of  cotton,  tobacco,  sugar  and  rice.     But 
the  agitation  continued. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  endorsed  by  the  anti-slavery 
people,  was  proposed  as  the  Republican  candidate 
for  President  in  i860,  whereupon  South  Carolina 
declared  if  Lincoln  was  elected  she  would  secede 
from  the  Union.  Lincoln  was  elected  and  accord- 
ingly South  Carolina  seceded,  and  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  the  other  slave-holding  States. 


98  A  School  History  of  the 

j. 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

EXAMPLES  OF  UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD 
WORK. 

William  and  Hllen  Craft  were  slaves  in  the  State 
of  Georgia.  Their  hearts  yearned  for  freedom. 
Their  minds  were  at  once  set  to  work  to  formu- 
late some  plan  of  escape.  It  was  at  last  settled. 
Ellen  being  very  fair,  while  William  was  dark,  was 
to  pass  for  a  young  invalid  planter,  William  being 
her  slave  and  servant.  Not  being  able  to  write, 
and  without  beard,  she  put  her  hand  into  a  sling 
and  tied  her  face  up  ;  after  putting  on  male  attire 
they  were  ready  to  start  out.  William  attended  to 
all  the  business,  such  as  registering  at  the  hotels 
and  buying  tickets.  They  stopped  at  a  first-class 
hotel  in  Charleston,  and  also  in  Richmond,  finally 
reaching  Philadelphia  safely.  Hllen  gave  up  her 
male  attire,  untied  her  face,  released  her  arm  from 
the  sling  and  her  speech  came  to  her.  They  put 
themselves  under  the  care  of  the  Abolitionists,  were 
sent  to  Boston,  but  after  the  passage  of  the  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Bill  attempts  were  made  to  capture  and 
put  them  back  into  slavery  again.  They  were  at 
last  sent  to  England,  where  they  remained  for 
nearly  twenty  years ;  then  they  returned  and  made 
their  home  in  Savannah,  Georgia,  where,  we  learn, 
they  are  still  living. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  99 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SLAVE  POPULATION  OF  i860. 

In  the  fifteen  slave  States  there  were  3,950,000 
slaves  in  i860,  and  251,000  free  colored  people. 
Nearly  3,000,000  of  the  slaves  were  in  the  rural 
districts  of  the  South  ;  and  the  slave  products  of 
cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  sugarcane,  hemp  and  molasses 
amounted  to  about  $136,505,435.  These  products, 
made  by  slave  labor,  formed  the  basis  of  Southern 
prosperity.  The  war  of  the  rebellion,  which  com- 
menced in  the  following  3^ear,  was  destined  to  shake 
the  very  foundation  of  Southern  civilization.  From 
a  people  unaccustomed  to  hard  work,  it  was  to  take 
away  those  who  worked  for  them  and  those  same 
people  who  were  to  be  taken  away  were  to  be 
regaled  in  the  priceless  boon  of  citizenship.  Let 
us  now  study  some  of  the  efforts  of  Negroes  in 
helping  to  achieve  this  citizenship,  after  which  we 
shall  see  how  well  they  deserved  to  be  citizens. 


ioo  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

ENLISTMENT    OF    NEGROES. 

The  Secession  of  South  Carolina  and  the  other 
Southern  States  was  the  signal  for  war.  True  to 
its  declaration  to  do  so  this  State  seceded  when 
Lincoln  was  elected  in  1861.  Fort  Sumter  was 
fired  on  by  the  Confederates  and  captured.  The 
North  was  divided  on  the  question  of  slavery,  and 
the  Government  at  Washington  was  slow  in  mak- 
ing any  efforts  to  stop  the  rebellion.  A  few  troops 
were  sent  into  the  field  with  the  hope  of  frighten- 
ing the  South.  The  battle  of  Bull  Run  was  fought, 
and  disgracefully  lost  to  the  Union.  It  took  some 
losses  and  failures  to  make  the  North  believe  the 
South  would  fight.  Finally,  after  the  defeat  at  Bull 
Run, 

Lincoln  Issued  a  Proclamation  for  75,000  volun- 
teers. But  the  motto  was,  no  blacks  need  apply. 
There  was  great  prejudice  in  the  North  against  the 
Negro's  enlisting  to  fight  for  his  freedom,  and  the 
President  was  also  opposed  to  it. 

The    Confederates    were  already  forming  Negro 


Negro  Race  in  America.  101 

companies  for  the  defence  of  Richmond  and  build- 
ing fortifications.  The  third  and  fourth  regiments 
of  Georgia  showed  one  Negro  company  as  they 
passed  through  Augusta  en  route  to  Virginia.  Free 
Negroes  enlisted  on  the  Confederate  side  at  New 
Orleans  and  Memphis.  They  were  highly  spoken 
of  by  the  Southern  papers.  But  the  North  seemed 
to  think  still  that  to  put  the  Negro  in  the  Union 
blue  would  disgrace  that  uniform. 

General  Hunter,  stationed  at  Port  Royal,  South 
Carolina,  did  not  agree  with  Congress  nor  the  Presi- 
dent. When  he  succeeded  General  Sherman, 
instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War  to  "accept 
the  services  of  all  loyal  persons  "  were  handed  him ; 
and  he  seized  this  opportunity  (there  being  nothing 
said  about  Negroes)  to  enlist  a  Negro  regiment  of 
fugitive  slaves.  His  conduct  was  inquired  into  by 
Mr.  Wickliffe,  a  Congressman  from  Kentucky,  and 
a  resolution  of  censure  was  offered. 

Major-General  Hunter  replied  to  the  enquiry  made 
in  Congress  as  to  his  enlisting  slaves,  that  the 
Negroes  seemed  to  be  the  only  loyal  people  in  that 
locality,  and  they  were  anxious  to  fight  for  their 
freedom,  and  gave  every  evidence  of  making  u  inval- 
uable auxiliaries."  They  knew  the  country  and 
were  accustomed  to  the  climate. 


102  A  School  History  of  the 

General  Phelps,  stationed  in  Louisiana  about  this 
time,  was  making  a  bold  fight  for  the  enlistment  of 
Negroes  in  and  around  New  Orleans.  He  was 
opposed  by  Gen.  Benj.  F.  Butler,  who  protested 
so  strongly  against  it  that  finally  General  Phelps 
was  forced  to  resign  and  return  to  his  home  in 
Vermont.  The  sentiment  of  the  Northern  army 
seemed  to  have  a  conspicuous  leaning  toward  admit- 
ting the  right  of  the  South  to  hold  slaves.  General 
Butler  refused  the  runaway  slaves  quarters  in  his 
headquarters.  McClellan,  a  reeking  failure  as  a 
commander,  said,  with  others,  that  if  he  thought  he 
was  fighting  to  free  the  "niggers"  he  would  sheath 
his  sword.  He  soon  failed  in  the  Virginia  cam- 
paign and  was  forced  to  resign. 

Mr.  Stevens  proposed  a  bill  in  Congress  author- 
izing the  President  to  "  raise  and  equip  150,000  sol- 
diers of  African  descent."  Meanwhile  Col.  Thomas 
W.  Higginson  and  Col.  Montgomery  with  a  com- 
pany of  Negro  troops  were  ascending  the  St.  John 
River  in  Florida,  where  he  captured  Jacksonville, 
which  had  been  abandoned  by  white  Union  troops. 
Among  those  who  favored  Mr.  Stevens'  measure 
were  Horace  Greeley  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who 
seemed  to  have  been  convinced  of  the  worth  of  the 
colored  troops  from  the  testimony  of  such  men  as 
Phelps,  Higginson,  Hunter  and  Montgomery,  who 


Negro  Race  in  America.  103 

had  already  seen  what  Negro  troops  could  accom- 
plish. 

Public  Sentiment  was  being  aroused  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  newspapers  discussed  the  matter.  The 
New  York  Tribune  said:  "Drunkenness,  the  bane 
of  our  army,  does  not  exist  among  the  black  troops." 
"Nor  have  I  yet  discovered  the  slightest  ground  of 
inferiority  to  white  troops."  Mr.  Lincoln  very 
soon  changed  his  mind,  Congress  gave  its  consent 
and  the  order  went  forth  to  enlist  Negroes  in  defence 
of  the  Union. 

The  Right  to  Fight  for  what  they  thought  would 
ultimately  end  in  their  freedom  was  hailed  with 
shouts  of  joy  wherever  the  tidings  reached  the 
Negroes.        *' 

At  Newbern,  N.  C,  they  made  a  great  demonstra- 
tion. The  enlisting  places  at  New  Orleans  and 
other  Southern  cities  then  in  the  hands  of  the 
Federals,  were  the  scenes  of  the  wildest  confusion 
in  the  mad  rush  of  the  colored  people  to  register 
their  names  on  the  army  records. 

A  Difficulty  arose  in  getting  sufficient  arms  for 
all  the  colored  troops ;  and  a  further  difficulty  was 
to  be  met  in  selecting  white  officers  who  had  the 
courage  to  brave  public  sentiment  and  take  the 
command  of  Negro  troops.  Negro  daring  and 
excellency  on  the  battle-field  soon  broke  down  these 


104  A  School  History  of  the 

flimsy  weaknesses  of  the  white  officers,  and  the 
summer  of  1863  found  over  100,000  Negroes  in  the 
Union  ranks,  and  over  50,000  armed  and  equipped 
on  the  fields  of  battle. 

Their  Pay  was  seven  dollars  per  month,  with 
board  and  clothing.  The  whites  received  thirteen 
dollars  per  month  with  board  and  clothing.  Thus 
the  former  slave  went  forth  to  meet  his  master  on 
the  battle-field,  sometimes  to  capture,  or  be  cap- 
tured; sometimes  to  fall  side  by  side,  one  pierced 
with  the  Southern,  the  other  with  the  Northern 
bayonet. 

EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATIONS. 

Two  Proclamations  were  issued  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 
The  first,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  defined 
the  issue  of  the  war  to  be  "for  the  object  of  prac- 
tically restoring  the  constitutional  relation  between 
the  United  States  and  each  of  the  States  and  the 
people  thereof."  It  offered,  first,  to  pay  the  masters 
for  their  slaves  and  colonize  them  in  America  or 
Africa.  Second,  it  proposed  to  free  the  slaves  of 
those  persons  and  States  then  engaged  in  actual 
rebellion.  Third,  it  offered  to  pay  from  the  Federal 
treasury  loyal  masters  who  had  lost  their  slaves  in 
and  during  the  rebellion. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  105 

The  Second  Proclamation  was  issued  January  1, 
1863,  and  is  the  one  we  celebrate.  This  measure 
was  urged  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  Abolitionists 
and  those  who  wished  the  Negro  free.  It  did  not 
free  all  the  slaves.  Some  counties  were  left  out. 
Though  the  Abolitionists  saw  in  the  proclamation 
the  consummation  of  their  prayers  and  hopes,  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  evidently  regarded  the 
proclamation  as  a  war  measure,  very  necessary 
under  the  circumstances,  to  shorten  the  war.  The 
South  would  have  surrendered  in  half  the  time, 
had  not  a  large  number  of  slaves  remained  on  the 
plantations,  raising  supplies  for  the  Confederate 
army,  and  supporting  and  protecting  their  masters' 
families. 


106  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  NEGRO  SOLDIERS. 

Mr.  Williams  Says:  "All  history,  ancient  and 
modern,  Pagan  and  Christian,  justified  the  conduct 
of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  employment  of 
slaves  as  soldiers.  Greece  had  tried  the  experiment, 
and  at  the  battle  of  Marathon  there  were  two  regi- 
ments composed  of  slaves.  The  beleagured  city 
of  Rome  offered  freedom  to  her  slaves  who  would  vol- 
unteer as  soldiers,  and  at  the  battle  of  Cannae  a  reg- 
iment of  Roman  slaves  made  Hannibal's  cohorts  reel 
before  their  unequalled  courage.  Negro  officers,  as 
well  as  soldiers,  had  shared  the  perils  and  glories  of 
the  campaigns  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte ;  and  even  the 
Royal  Guard  at  the  Court  of  Imperial  France  had 
been  mounted  with  black  soldiers.  In  two  wars  in 
North  America  Negro  soldiers  had  followed  the  for- 
tunes of  military  life,  and  won  the  applause  of  white 
patriots  on  two  continents.  So,  then,  all  history  fur- 
nished a  precedent  for  the  guidance  of  the  United 
States  Government  in  the  civil  war  of  America." 

Just  How  Well  the  Negro  Soldiers  Behaved  may 
be  gathered  from  a  description  of 


Negro  Race  in  America.  107 

SOME  FAMOUS  BATTLES  IN  WHICH  NEGROES  FOUGHT. 

Port  Hudson,  May  27,  1863.  The  Negro  regi- 
ment under  Colonel  Nelson  was  assiged  the  difficult 
task  of  taking  this  fort,  which  seemed  almost 
impregnable.  It  was  situated  on  a  high  bluff  over- 
looking the  river  in  front.  Around  the  sides  and 
rear  close  under  the  bluff  ran  a  bayou  twelve  feet 
deep  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  wide.  Look- 
ing out  from  openings  in  the  embankment  were 
the  grim  mouths  of  many  deadly  cannon.  They 
were  arranged  so  as  to  make  a  straight  raking 
charge  on  the  front  of  any  approaching  force,  while 
a  score  and  a  half  of  heavy  guns  were  to  cut  down 
the  left  and  right  wings  with  grape  and  canister. 

Having  Marched  all  Night,  the  "Black  Regiment" 
stacked  arms  at  5  A.  M.  One  hour  was  given  for 
rest  and  breakfast.  Many,  completely  overcome  by 
the  enervating  heat  and  dust,  sank  down  "in  their 
tracks  "  and  slept. 

The  Officers  received  their  instructions  at  5:30, 
and  at  6  o'clock  the  bugle  sounded.  "Fall  in!" 
was  heard  ringing  out  among  the  soldiers ;  and  the 
scene  reminded  one  more  of  a  holiday  party  than 
a  march  to  death.  The  troops  seemed  anxious  to 
fight.  The  white  troops  looked  on  with  uneasiness, 
and  doubts  concerning  the  Negro's  courage.     The 


1 08  A  School  History  of  the 

Confederates  in  the  fort  ridiculed  the  idea  that 
Negroes  were  to  charge  them. 

The  Negro  Regiment  moved  towards  the  fort.  There 
was  death-like  silence  save  the  tramp  of  soldiers 
and  the  tap  of  drum.  "Forward;  double-quick, 
march!  "  rang  out  along  the  line  ;  not  a  piece  was 
fired.  Now  the  rebel  guns  open  on  the  left ;  one 
shell  kills  twelve  men.  "Right  about!"  was  the 
command ;  the  regiment  wheeled  to  the  right  for 
about  three  hundred  yards,  then  coolly  and  steadily 
faced  the  enemy  again  by  companies. 

Six  Deathly  charges  were  thus  made,  when  Col. 
Nelson  reported  to  General  Dwight  his  inability  to 
take  the  fort  because  of  the  bayou  being  too  deep 
for  the  men  to  wade.  General  Dwight  replied  :  "I 
shall  consider  that  he  has  accomplished  nothing 
unless  he  takes  those  guns."  The  soldiers  saw  it 
was  impossible,  as  well  as  Colonel  Nelson,  yet 
" again  the  order  to  charge"  was  obeyed  with  a 
shout. 

Captain  Andre  Callioux  commanded  Company  E 
in  the  next  charge.  He  marched  his  colored 
brethren  over  the  dead  bodies  of  their  comrades, 
crying,  "Follow  me!"  and  while  flashing  his  sword 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  belching  Confederate 
guns,  he  was  smitten  down  in  front  of  his  company 
by  a  shell. 


Negro    Race  in  America.  109 

Color-Sergeant  Anselmas  Planciancois  said  to 
Col.  Nelson  before  the  fight :  "  Colonel,  I  will  bring 
back  these  colors  to  yon  in  honor,  or  report  to  God 
the  reason  why."  It  was  now  between  11  and  12 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  fight  began  at  7  A.  m. 
The  gallant  Callioux  was  lying  dead  on  the  field. 
His  men  now  charged  almost  in  the  month  of  the 
Confederate  guns.  Planciancois  bore  the  flag  in 
front.  A  shell  strikes  the  staff  and  blows  off  half 
of  the  brave  sergeant's  head;  he  falls,  wrapped  in 
the  folds  of  his  nation's  flag,  his  brains  scattered 
amid  them,  but  still  his  strong  grip  holds  the  staff, 
even  in  death,  till 

Corporal  Heath  catches  it  up  to  bear  it  to  the 
front  again.  Pierced  by  a  musket  ball,  which  split 
his  head,  he,  too,  falls  upon  the  body  of  the  brave 
Planciancois.  Still  another  corporal  lifts  the  flag 
and  bears  it  through  the  fray.  And  thus  the 
Negro  troops,  on  almost  their  very  first  trial, 
silenced  all  clamors  as  to  their  bravery.  Fort 
Hudson  was  not  taken  then,  but  the  reason  for 
defeat  lay  not  in  a  lack  of  unrivalled  daring  and 
heroic  courage  on  the  part  of  the  Negro  troops. 
The  loss  was  37  killed  and  wounded,  and  missing, 
271. 

The  New  York  Times  says  of  this  battle:  "Gen. 
Dwight,  at  least,  must  have  had  the  idea  not  only 


no  A  School  History  of  the 

that  they  (Negro  troops)  were  men,  but  something 
more  than  men  from  the  terrific  test  to  which  he 
put  their  valor.  The  deeds  of  heroism  performed 
by  these  men  were  such  as  the  proudest  white  men 
might  emulate.  Their  colors  are  literally  bespat- 
tered with  blood  and  brains. 

"The  color  sergeant  of  the  ist  Louisiana,  on  being 
mortally  wounded,  hugged  the  colors  to  his  breast, 
when  a  struggle  ensued  between  the  two  color 
corporals  on  each  side  of  him  as  to  wTho  should 
have  the  honor  of  bearing  the  sacred  standard. 
One  black  lieutenant  actually  mounted  the  enemy's 
works  four  times."  *  *  *  "Although  repulsed 
in  an  attempt,  which — situated  as  things  .  were — 
was  all  but  impossible,  these  regiments,  though  badly 
cut  up,  were  still  on  hand,  and  burning  with  a  passion 
ten  times  hotter  from  their  fierce  baptism  of 
blood." 

Gen.  Banks  wrote,  concerning  the  "  Black  Regi- 
ment" at  Port  Hudson:  "It  gives  me  pleasure  to 
report  that  they  answered  every  expectation.  Their 
conduct  was  heroic."  The  success  of  the  Negro 
troops  at  Port  Hudson  rang  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress, in  the  lecture-room,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the 
newspapers;  poets  sang  of  it,  and  Northern  orators 
vied  with  each    other  in   eloquent   pictures  of  the 


Negro  Race  in  America.  in 

scene  of  that  great  fight  which  settled  the  question 
as  to  the  Negro's  fitness  for  the  army. 

Milliken's  Bend,  6th  of  June,  1863.  The  Con- 
federates came  up  from  Louisiana  about  3,000 strong. 
They  rested  over  night  while  the  Federals  were 
collecting  at  the  temporary  fort  in  the  bend  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  Union  men-of-war  "Choctaw" 
and  "Lexington"  appeared,  coming  up  the  river 
before  daylight,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  June, 
which  was  the  time  the  Confederates  made  their 
first  charge,  yelling  "  No  quarter  to  Negroes  and 
their  officers."  The  Negro  troops  were  without 
training,  being  lately  recruited,  but  they  fought 
like  veterans.  The  Confederates  fell  back  under 
their  heavy  fire  in  front  and  charged  the  Union 
flanks.  Upon  this  the  Union  troops  found  shelter 
from  the  gun-boats,  and  broadside  after  broadside 
made  the  Confederates  hasten  away. 

An  Eye  Witness'  Description:  "  As  before  stated, 
the  Confederates  drove  our  force  towards  the  gun- 
boats, taking  colored  men  prisoners.  This  so 
enraged  them  that  they  rallied  and  charged  the 
enemy  more  heroically  and  desperately  than  has 
been  recorded  during  the  war.  It  was  a  genuine 
bayonet  charge,  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  that  has 
never  occurred  to  any  extent  during  this  pro- 
longed conflict.     Upon  both  sides  men  were  killed 


ii2-  •  A  School  History  of  the 

with  the  butts  of  muskets.  White  and  colored 
men  were  lying  side  by  side  pierced  by  bay- 
onets, and  in  some  instances  transfixed  to  the  earth. 
One  brave  man  took  his  former  master  prisoner, 
and  brought  him  into  camp  with  great  gusto.  A 
Confederate  prisoner  made  a  particular  request  that 
his  own  Negroes  should  not  be  placed  over  him  as 
a  guard. 

"  Union  loss  one  hundred  killed,  five*  hundred 
wounded,  mostly  Negroes.  Confederate  loss  two 
hundred  killed,  five  hundred  wounded,  two  hundred 
taken  prisoners,  and  two  cannon." 

The  battles  of  Fort  Pillow  and  Milliken's  Bend 
made  many  friends  for  the  colored  soldiers.  Their 
soldierly  qualities  were  on  trial ;  the  experiment  of 
arming  Negroes  to  fight  for  the  Union  was  being 
tried.  This  the  colored  troops  seemed  to  realize, 
and  it  stimulated  them  to  do  their  very  best.  They 
fought  courageously,  and  fully  satisfied  all  doubts 
concerning  their  valor. 

The  Draft  Riot  broke  out  in  New  York  in  July, 
1863.  An  order  came  from  Washington,  authoriz- 
ing soldiers  to  be  drafted  in  New  York  City.-  The 
Democratic  newspapers  ridiculed  the  idea  of  the 
people's  being  drafted  into  service  "  to  fight  the 
battles  of  'niggers  and  Abolitionists.'"  General 
Wood  finally  put  down  the  riot  after  killing  thir- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  113 

teen  of  the  rioters,  wounding  eighteen  and  taking- 
twenty -four  prisoners.  "They  had  burned  the 
Colored  Orphan's  Asylum,  hung  colored  men  to 
lamp-posts,  and  destroyed  the  property  of  this  class 
of  citizens  with  impunity." 

The  54th  Massachusetts  was  the  first  colored  regi- 
ment organized  in  the  free  States,  Colonel  Shaw 
commander.  It  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
attempt  to  take  Fort  IVagner,  near  Charleston, 
S.  C.  It  marched  two  days  and  nights  through 
swamps  and  drenching  rains  to  be  in  time  for  the 
assault.  Soaking  wet,  muddy,  hungry  and  fatigued, 
they  reached  the  field  in  time  and  gladly  accepted 
the  "post  of  honor  and  danger,"  immediately  in 
front.  After  a  five  minutes'  rest  they  double- 
quicked  a  half-mile  to  the  fort,  where,  after  a  most 
gallant  and  desperate  fight,  Sergeant  William  H. 
Carney  planted  the  regiment's  flag  on  the  works. 
Nearly  all  the  officers  of  the  regiment  were  killed, 
and  it  was  led  off  by  a  boy — Lieut.  Higginson. 

"Sergeant  Carney,"  says  an  eye  witness,  "received 
a  severe  wound  in  the  thigh,  but  fell  only  upon  his 
knees.  He  planted  the  flag  upon  the  parapet,  lay 
on  the  outer  slope,  that  he  might  get  as  much, 
skelter  as  possible ;  there  he  remained  for  over  half 
an  hour,  till  the  second  brigade  came  up.  He  kept 
the  colors  flying  till  the  second  conflict  was  ended. 


ii4 


A  School  History  of-  the 


Negro  Race   in  America.  115 

When  our  forces  retired  he  followed,  creeping  on 
one  knee,  still  holding  the  flag."  When  he  entered 
the  hospital  (bleeding  from  one  wound  in  the  head 
and  another  in  the  thigh)  "his  wounded  comrades 
cheered  him,"  and  he  said,  "Boys,  the  old  flag  never 
touched  the  ground." 

The  Negro  Soldiers.  The  sentiment  against  the 
Negro  at  the  North  had  somewhat  abated  in  the 
face  of  the  irresistible  bravery  as  exhibited  by 
Negro  troops  at  Wragner  and  Port  Hudson.  The 
North  saw  that  wonderful  results  could  be  achieved 
by  Negro  soldiers. 

The  Confederates  exchanged  before  this  some 
Union  officers,  but  refused  to  exchange  Negroes. 


1 1 6  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FORT  PILLOW. 

This  fort  is  located  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi,  about  fifty  miles  above  Memphis,  in 
Tennessee.  It  crowned  the  top  of  a  steep  bluff, 
covered  with  trees  and  shrubbery.  Major  L-  F. 
Booth  was  in  command  with  a  garrison  of  557  men, 
262  of  whom  were  colored.  There  were  six  artil- 
lery pieces.  Gen.  N.  B.  Forest,  commanding  a  large 
corps  of  Confederate  cavalry,  appeared  at  the  fort  at 
sunrise  on  the  13th  of  April,  1S64,  and  demanded 
its  surrender  Major  Booth  drew  up  his  force  in 
the  intrenchments  around  the  parapet.  Thus  a  con- 
tinual firing  was  kept  up  till  the  afternoon,,  during 
which  Major  Booth  was  killed.  Major  Bradford 
took  command.  The  firing  ceased  for  the  guns  to 
cool  off  and  to  be  cleaned.  Meanwhile,  under  a 
flag  of  truce,  Gen.  Forest  demanded  the  surren- 
der of  the  fort,  stating,  "If  I  have  to  storm  your 
works,  you  may  expect  no  quarter."  The  Con- 
federates, taking  advantage  of  the  truce,  were 
hiding  in  the  trenches  from  which  Major  Bradford 
had    withdrawn    his    men    into    the    fort.     A   few 


Negro  Race  in  America.  117 

moments  later  they  rushed  in  with  their  deafening 
yell — "No  quarter!" 

The  Union  troops  offered  stubborn  resistance, 
but,  with  superior  numbers  crowding  in  from  front, 
rear  and  sides,  they  were  overcome  and  surren- 
dered. 

The  War  in  the  West  was  now  about  at  an  end. 
Sherman  set  out  upon  his  famous  inarch  through 
Georgia;  Grant,  having  opened  up  the  Mississippi, 
marched  on  Richmond,  which  had  now  become  the 
strategic  point  of  the  war.  McClellan,  Hooker, 
Meade  and  Burnside  had  failed  in  their  assaults 
on  this  the  Confederate  capital.  All  hopes  were 
now  centered  in  Grant.  To  him  was  assigned  the 
task,  and  this  brings  us  to  the 

CAMPAIGN    IN    VIRGINIA,    1 864. 

Twenty  Thousand  Strong  marched  the  Negro 
troops  into  the  campaign  of  Virginia.  On  their 
way  they  passed  through  Washington.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, with  Gen.  Burnside  and  friends,  reviewed  the 
long  line  from  the  balcony  of  Willard's  Hotel.  As 
the  long,  heav}^  columns  filed  past,  the  President 
acknowledged  their  almost  continuous  "Hurrah 
for  Lincoln]!"  He  was  deeply  touched  \>y  the 
spectacle ;  there  were  tears  in  many  eyes  that  saw  the 


u8  A  School  History  of  the 

brave  thousands  of  sable  sons,  but  a  little  while  ago 
slaves,  now  gallantly  marching  to  defend  the  Union. 
It  was  a  scene  never  forgotten  by  those  who  saw  it. 

With  Equal  Pay,  a  recognition  as  soldiers  by  Mr. 
Davis,  and  a  brilliant  record,  marched  the  Negro 
troops  into  the  Virginia  campaign.  Gen.  Butler, 
who  was  now  convinced  by  the  scenes  at  Port  Hud- 
son, Forts  Pillow  and  Wagner  of  the  Negro's  capac- 
ity for  fighting,  was  stationed  at  Bermuda  Hun- 
dreds with  a  large  corps  of  Negro  troops. 

Grant  Threw  His  Forces  across  the  Rapidan  and 
met  the  Confederates  in  The  Wilderness.  He  left 
Gen.  Ferrero  with  his  colored  troops  to  protect  his 
wagon  train  in  the  rear.  Eivell  with  the  Confed- 
erate cavalry,  whipped  around  in  search  of  these 
supplies.  Gen.  Ferrero  with  his  Negro  troops  met 
Bwell.  The  Confederates  made  a  bold  charge  and 
captured  twenty-seven  wagons.  The  hungry  sol- 
diers prepared  to  feast  on  their  plunder. 

Gen.  Ferrero  opened  fire.  The  Confederates  charged 
again,  giving  the  colored  troops  their  very  best,  but 
the  Negro  regiments  did  not  budge.  Gen.  Ferrero 
then  ordered  his  troops  to  charge,  and,  in  this  the 
first  fight  between  Negro  troops  and  Virginians, 
the  Confederates  were  driven  "  as  the  gale  drives 
chaff."  "It  was  the  first  time  at  the*  Bast,"  says 
Gen.   Badeau   in   his   Military   History  of  Grant, 


Negro  Race   in  America.  119 

"when  the  colored  troops  had  been  engaged  in  any 
important  battle,  and  the  display  of  soldierly  qual- 
ities won  a  frank  acknowledgment  from  both  troops 
and  commanders,  not  all  of  whom  had  before  been 
willing  to  look  upon  Negroes  as  comrades.  But 
after  that  time,  white  soldiers  in  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  were  not  displeased  to  receive  the  support 
of  the  black  ones ;  they  had  found  the  support 
worth  having." 


120  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

AROUND  PETERSBURG. 

Here  it  was  that  Negro  soldiers  covered  them- 
selves with  merited  glory  in  the  presence  of  white 
troops  on  both  sides ;  surprising  in  their  daring  to 
officers  trained  at  West  Point,  and  that,  too,  on  the 
very  soil  where  slavery  first  made  its  appearance 
in  this  country. 

The  City  of  Petersburg  lies  on  the  Appomattox 
river  near  the  James,  and  not  far  from  Richmond, 
with  which  it  has  railroad  connection,  and  formed 
the  base  of  supplies  up  the  James  for  the  troops  in 
defence  of  Richmond.  It  therefore  became  an 
important  point  to  reduce.  It  was  strongly  forti- 
fied on  all  sides  for  miles  out. 

The  Task  of  Taking  the  "Cockade  City,"  as  it 
was  called,  fell  to  Gen.  Smith,  assisted  by  General 
Kautz,  coming  up  on  the  East;  Brooks,  following 
Kautz;  Martindale,  who  was  to  move  up  the 
Appomattox,  and  Hinks,  who  moved  between  the 
two.  The  black  brigade  was  under  Gen  Hinks,  who 
discovered  a  Confederate  battery  on  a  knoll  six 
miles  out  from  the  city.     Under  range  of  the  Con- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  121 

federate  guns  he  formed  his  line  for  a  charge.  The 
battery  must  be  taken  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
" Forward!"  rang  out  along  the  line,  and  as  the 
troops  cleared  the  woods  the  enemy  opened  a  raking 
fire  with  canister,  siege  gun  and  musket.  But 
away  swept  the  black  brigade,  their  ranks  shattered 
with  deadly  shells.  As  they  closer  came,  a  fusilade 
of  musket^  came  down  upon  them ;  a  hundred 
men  fell ;  but  leaping  and  dashing,  with  a  wild 
cheer  they  burst  over  the  bulwarks,  drove  the 
enemy  from  their  guns,  and  instantly  turned  them 
on  their  scattered  ranks  beating  a  hasty  retreat 
towards  Petersburg — and  the  colored  troops  had 
won  the  day. 

Brooks  and  Martindale  were  now  in  front  of  the 
Confederates'  main  line  near  the  river.  Hinks, 
with  his  Negro  corps  of  3,000,  was  ordered  towards 
"Dunn's  House,"  three  miles  from  the  city  on  the 
road  leading  east. 

To  Reach  His  Position  it  was  necessary  to  cross 
an  open  space  in  full  reach  of  the  sharp-shooters 
and  artillery  of  the  enemy.  They  crossed  this 
space  by  moving  forward  a  few  paces  and  then 
lying  down  ;  at  every  quiet  moment  they  would  steal 
forward;  the}^  thus  reached  their  position  under  the 
most  trying  test.  But  on  reaching  their  post,  so 
thick  and  deadly  was  the  firing  from  all  sides  that 


122  A  School  History  of  the 

they  dared  not  rise;  so  thus  they  lay  from  one  till 
five  o'clock  p.  m.,  while  torrents  of  lead  whizzed 
over  their  heads. 

"Dunn's  House"  was  defended  by  three  forts, 
one  in  front,  one  north  and  another  south.  Deep 
ravines  lay  in  front,  while  an  almost  impassable 
abatis  of  trees  impeded  the  way  to  the  forts.  Seven 
hundred  yards  in  front  lay  Hink's  black  troops 
hungry  for  the  fray.  Thus  they  lay  in  deep  sus- 
pense, anxious  for  orders  to  go  forward.  Mean- 
while, shells  plowed  the  earth  around  them  for 
four  long  hours,  which  seemed  to  them  like  days. 

At  Five  O'clock  the  command  "Forward!"  was 
greeted  with  a  rush  and  a  shout.  The  brave  Negro 
troops  went  forward  at  a  double-quick;  the  skir- 
mishers were  the  first  to  reach  the  embankments, 
and  were  greeted  with  a  shower  of  bullets  which 
tumbled  many  headlong  and  lifeless  into  the  pits. 
But  on  came  the  main  body  as  if  impelled  by 
lightning;  they  swept  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy, 
grabbed  their  guns  and  fired  them  upon  them  as 
they  "ran  for  their  lives."  Three  hundred  Con- 
federates were  taken  prisoners,  and  several  pieces  of 
artillery  were  captured. 

Smith  Had  Petersburg  now  at  his  mercy.  Brooks 
and  Martindale  had  swept  the  enemy  in  front  of 
them  simultaneously  with  Hinks,  and  the  way  was 


Negro  Race  in  America.  123 

open  to  march  immediately  into  the  city.  Gen. 
Smith,  however,  decided  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of 
Gen.  Birney  with  the  Second  Corps — and  this  delay 
caused  the  loss  of  many  thousand  lives. 

Next  Morning,  as  the  sun  peeped  up  over  the  yel- 
low waters  of  the  Appomattox,  the  condition  of 
things  had  changed.  The  flower  of  Lee's  ariny 
had  come  up  in  the  night-time,  and  Grant  was 
compelled  afterwards  to  lay  siege  to  the  city,  under 
which  it  finally  surrendered. 

Secretary  Stanton  was  wild  with  delight  over  the 
valor  of  the  colored  troops  at  Petersburg.  Said  he  : 
"The  hardest  fighting  was  done  by  the  black  troops. 
The  forts  they  stormed  were  the  worst  of  all.  After 
the  affair  was  over,  Gen.  Smith  went  to  thank  them, 
and  tell  them  he  was  proud  of  their  courage  and 
dash.  He  says  they  cannot  be  excelled  as  soldiers, 
and  that  hereafter  he  will  send  them  in  a  difficult 
place  as  readily  as  the  white  troops." 


124  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  CRATER. 

Petersburg  was  now  surrounded  by  the  Union 
army.  ^There  was  continual  skirmishing.  Burnside 
commanded  the  Ninth  Corps,  composed  partly  of 
Negro  troops.  By  fierce  fighting  he  made  his  way 
up  to  within  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  the  Confed- 
erate batteries.  Projecting  out  in  front  of  them  was 
a  strong  fort.  After  consultation  a  trench  was  dug 
out  some  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  branching  off 
in  two  directions  at  the  end  under  the  fort.  It  wras 
packed  withrpowder  and  explosives,  the  design  being 
to  blow  the  place  up.  As  arranged,  on  the  30th  of 
July,  1864,  the  match  was  applied.  Dampness 
prevented  an  explosion.  Lieut.  Jacob  Douty  and 
Sergeant  Henry  Rus  volunteered  to  go  into  the 
trenches  and  ascertain  and  remove  the  difficulty, 
and  very  soon  after  they  came  out,  at  4:45  A.  m.,  the 
match  was  again  applied,  and — read  the  result,  by 
Gen.  Badeau  :  "  The  mine  exploded  with  a  shock  like 
that  of  an  earthquake,  tearing  up  the  Confederates' 
works  above  them,  and  vomiting  men,  guns  and 
caissons,  two  hundred   feet   into  the  air.     The  tie- 


Negro  Race  in  America.  125 

mendous  mass  appeared  for  a  moment  to  hang 
suspended  in  the  heavens  like  a  huge  indented  cone, 
the  exploding  powder  still  flashing  out  here  and 
there,  while  limbs  and  bodies  of  mutilated  men, 
and  fragments  of  cannon  and  wood-work,  could  be 
seen.  Then  all  fell  heavily  to  the  ground  again,  with 
a  second  report  like  thunder.  When  the  smoke 
and  dust  had  cleared  away,  only  an  enormous  cra- 
ter, thirty  feet  deep,  sixty  feet  wide,  and  a  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  long  stretched  out  in  front  of  the 
Ninth  Corps,  where  the  Confederate  fort  had  been." 

At  the  moment  of  the  explosion  the  Union  bat- 
teries belched  forth  from  one  hundred  and  ten  deadly 
cannon  and  fifty  mortars,  and  verily  the  earth 
seemed  to  tremble  from  the  shock. 

The  Plan  was  to  follow  the  discharge  of  the  bat- 
teries with  a  charge.  Gen.  Burn  side  had  arranged 
his  Negro  troops  for  the  post  of  honor.  A  dispute 
arose  between  him  and  Gen.  Meade  as  to  the  wis- 
dom of  this  plan.  The  whole  matter  was  referred 
to  Gen.  Grant,  who  ordered  lots  to  be  draivn  by  the 
different  Generals  as  to  "who  should  go  into  the 
crater."  The  lot  fell  on  Gen.  Ledlie.  Gen.  Ledlie 
accordingly  endeavored  to  draw  up  his  troops  into  the 
mouth  of  the  crater.  The  Tenth  New  Hampshire 
faltered    and    broke  ranks.      Generals   Potter   and 


126  A  School  History  of  the 

Wilcox  marched  their  troops  into  the  dreadful  hole, 
where  they  halted  long  enough  for  the  Confeder- 
ates to  make  an  attack. 

Gen.  Potter  Struggled  out  with  his  division  and 
charged  the  enemy,  but  had  to  retire.  Gen.  Burn- 
side  now  ordered  his  colored  troops  around  the 
edges  of  the  crater;  the  Confederates  were  now 
gathering  around  from  all  sides,  and  under  a  heavy 
fire  drove  the  colored  troops  into  the  deadly  hole, 
from  which  they  continued  to  rally  until  nightfall. 

A  Ridiculous  Mistake  was  made  by  the  Federals 
in  not  marching  into  the  city  immediately  after  the 
explosion,  when  the  Confederates  were  nonplused 
and  breaking  away  in  mad  confusion.  Gen.  Grant 
says  of  this  disgraceful  affair:  "The  four  divisions 
of  his  (Burnside's)  corps  were  commanded  by 
Generals  Potter,  Wilcox,  Ledlie  and  Ferrero.  The 
last  was  a  colored  division ;  and  Burnside  selected 
it  to  make  the  assault.  Meade  interfered  with 
this.     Burnside  then  took  Ledlie's  division." 

Before  the  committee  that  investigated  the  affair 
Gen.  Grant  said:  "Gen.  Burnside  wanted  to  put 
his  colored  division  in  front ;  I  believe  if  he  had 
done  so  it  would  have  been  a  success." 

Four  Thousand  Four  Hundred  Union  soldiers 
perished  through  the  mistake  then  of  not  allowing 


Negro  Race  in  America.  127 

the  colored  troops  to  take  the  Confederate  works* 
which  Gen.  Grant  says  they  would  have  taken. 

How  the  Colored  Soldiers  fought  in  the  crater  let 
the  Confederate  commanders  (some  of  whose  slaves 
were  there)  speak:  "Ah,  boys,  you  have  got  hot 
work  ahead — they  are  Negroes  and  show  no  quar- 
ter."     (Col.  Stewart.) 

"Encouraged,  Threatened,  Emulating  the  white 
troops,  the  black  men  fought  with  desperation. 
Some  Confederate  soldiers  recognized  their  slaves  at 
the  crater.  A  Captain  of  the  Forty-first  Virginia, 
gave  the  military  salute  to  'Bob'  and  'Ben,'  whom 
he  had  left  hoeing  corn  in  Dinwiddie." 

Petersburg  Being  Captured,  the  siege  of  Rich- 
mond was  begun  with  a  vigor  and  determination 
such  as  only  a  Grant  could  command.  Meanwhile, 
a  lively  discussion  was  going  on  at  the  Confederate 
capital  as  to  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Benjamin  to 
arm  the  slaves  in  defence  of  the  city.  Gen.  Lee 
and  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis  favored  this  plan,  and 
recommended  that  such  colored  people  as  would 
join  the  Confederate  ranks  should  be  set  free. 

Some  Score  or  More  Blacks,  three  of  whom  were 
Mr.  Benjamin's  slaves,  enlisted  and  were  daily 
drilled  in  the  capital  square,  which  stands  on  an 
eminence  in  the  center  of  the  city. 


128  A  School  History  of  the 

Gen.  Lee  was  now  employing  his  best  troops  and 
military  manoeuvres  to  keep  Grant  out  of  the  Con- 
federate capital.  His  retreats  and  skirmishes,  exe- 
cuted with  genius  and  tact,  delayed  the  event;  but, 
opposed  by  superior  numbers,  his  army  half-starved, 
and  the  Confederacy  subjugated  in  the  South-west, 
he  saw  the  uselessness  of  a  further  hopeless  sacri- 
fice of  his  men  and  surrendered  accordingly  at 
Appomattox  on  the  9th  of  April,  1865,  "he  and 
his  army,  defeated  in  every  way  possible,  number- 
ing 27,516,"  and  "every  man  was  fed  by  the  con- 
queror." 

When  the  Union  Army  marched  into  Richmond 
the  Confederates  set  the  city  on  fire,  and  commenced 
a  wholesale  destruction  and  plunder  of  everything. 
Thousands  of  gallons  of  rum  were  emptied  into 
the  streets,  and  staggering  destruction  of  every- 
thing useful  seemed  in  order.  The  colored  troops 
were  organized  into  fire  brigades  and  soon  extin- 
guished the  fires  and  stopped  the  plunder  their 
masters  had  begun. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  129 

CHAPTER    XXVI. 

INCIDENTS  OF  THE  WAR. 

Rodman's  Point,  N.  C,  was  the  scene  of  a  brave 
deed  by  a  Negro.  A  flat-boat  full  of  troops,  with  a 
few  colored  soldiers  among  them,  tried  to  land  at 
this  place.  The  Confederate  soldiers  were  lying  in 
wait  for  the  boat,  and  the  soldiers  in  it  could  only 
save  themselves  by  lying  flat  on  the  bottom  out  of 
reach  of  their  deadly  guns.  But  if  the  boat 
remained  where  it  was  very  long  it  would  be  sur- 
rounded »and  captured.  One  of  the  colored  soldiers 
saw  the  danger,  and  knowing  the  boat  must  be 
pushed  off  or  all  would  be  killed,  suddenly  rose  up 
and  said:  "  Somebody  got  to  die  to  get  us  all  out 
dis  'ere,  and  it  mout  jes  as  well  be  me  as  anybody!" 
Saying  this  he  deliberately  stepped  on  shore  and 
pushed  the  boat  off.  The  men  in  the  bottom  were 
saved,  but  the  Negro  hero's  body  "fell  forward 
into  the  end  of  the  boat,  pierced  by  five  bullets." 
He  had  done  what  none  of  them  dared  do  to  save 
the  lives  of  his  comrades. 

A  Negro  Established  a  Clothes-line  Telegraph  in 
the  Falmouth  camp  on  the  Rappahannock  in  1863. 
The  Confederate  and  Union  armies  occupied  oppo- 
9 


130  A  School  History  of  the 

site  sides  of  the  river  and  used  every  means  of 
gaining  knowledge  of  each  others  movements. 
The  colored  attendant  in  the  Union  camp  proved 
very  valuable  here  as  elsewhere  during  the  war.  A 
colored  man  named  Dabney  drifted  into  the  Union 
lines  one  day  from  a  neighboring  farm,  and  soon 
proved  very  useful  because  of  his  full  knowledge 
of  the  topography  of  the  country.  He  was  given 
employment  as  "cook  and  body  servant."  He 
became  much  interested  in  the  system  of  army  sig- 
nals employed  and  begged  to  have  them  explained 
to  him.  This  was  done  and  he  learned  them  readily. 
His  wife  soon  came  over,  and  after  staying  awhile 
was  allowed  to  return  as  servant  to  a  "secesh 
woman"  whom  General  Hooker  was  about  to  send 
to  her  friends  on  the  other  side.  She  went  over 
and  took  a  place  as  laundress  at  "the  headquarters 
of  a  prominent  rebel  General."  Dabney,  her  hus- 
band, was  on  the  Union  side,  and  soon  began  to 
know  all  about  what  was  to  take  place  in  the  Con- 
federate camp.  An  hour  or  two  before  any  move- 
ment took  place  he  could  tell  all  about  it,  and  it 
always  turned  out  as  he  said.  The  wonder  and 
puzzle  to  the  Union  men  was  how  he  got  his  infor- 
mation, as  he  didn't  seem  to  neglect  his  work  to  go 
off  for  any  information  and  did  not  converse  with 
the  scouts.     After  numerous  questions  and  many 


Negro  Race  in  America.  131 

requests  he  finally  took  one  of  the  officers  to  a 
prominent  point  near  by,  and  pointed  out  a  cabin 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
enemy's  camp.  He  asked  the  officer  if  he  saw  a 
clothes-line  with  clothes  hanging  on  it.  The 
officer  replied  "Yes,"  whereupon  Dabney  said: 
"Well,  that  clothes-line  tells  me  in  half  an  hour  just 
what  goes  on  in  their  camp.  You  see  my  wife  over 
there,  she  washes  for  the  officers,  and  cooks  and 
waits  around,  and  as  soon  as  she  hears  of  any 
movement  or  anything  going  on  she  comes  down 
and  moves  the  clothes  on  that  line  so  I  can  under- 
stand it  in  a  minute.  That  there  gray  shirt  is 
Longstreet,  and  when  she  takes  it  off  it  means  he's 
gone  down  about  Richmond.  That  white  shirt 
means  Hill,  and  when  she  moves  it  up  to  the  west 
end  of  the  line,  Hill's  Corps  has  moved  up  stream. 
That  red  one  is  Stonewall.  He's  down  on  the  right 
now,  and  if  he  moves  she  will  move  that  red  shirt." 
One  morning  Dabney  came  in  and  reported  a 
movement  over  there, but  said  it  "Don't mean  any- 
thing, they  are  only  making  believe."  An  officer 
went  out  to  look  at  the  clothes-line  telegraph  through 
his  field-glass.  There  had  been  quite  a  shifting 
over  there  of  the  army  flannels.  "But  how  do  you 
know  but  there's  something  in  it?"  "Do  you  see 
those  two  blankets  pinned  together  at  the  bottom?" 


132  A  School  History  of  the 

said  Dabney.  "Yes,  but  what  of  it?"  said  the  offi- 
cer. "  Why,  that's  her  way  of  making  a  fish-trap  ; 
and  when  she  pins  the  clothes  together  that  way, 
it  means  that  Lee  is  only  trying  to  draw  us  into 
his  fish-trap."  As  long  as  the  two  armies  lay  watch- 
ing each  other  on  opposite  banks  of  the  stream, 
Dabney  with  his  clothes-line  telegraph  continued 
to  be  one  of  the  promptest  and  most  reliable  of 
General  Hooker's  scouts.  (Taken  from  Civil 
War — Song  and  Story). 

William  Staines,  Hero  of  the  Fight  at  Belmont,  was 
servant  to  Gen.  McClernand.  He  was  close  by  his 
employer  during  many  an  engagement.  On  one 
occasion,  in  the  course  of  the  fight,  a  captain  of  one 
of  the  companies  was  struck  by  a  spent  ball,  which 
disabled  him  from  walking.  Stains,  the  colored 
servant,  rode  up  to  him  and  shouted,  "Captain, 
if  you  can  fight  any  longer  for  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  take  my  horse  and  lead  your  men."  He 
then  dismounted  and  helped  the  wounded  officer 
into  his  saddle,  and,  as  he  was  walking  away,  a 
rebel  dragoon  rushed  forward  at  the  officer  to  take 
him  prisoner.  The  brave  Stains  did  not  flinch, 
but  drew  his  revolver  and  put  a  ball  through  the 
rebel's  head,  scattering  his  brains  over  the  horse's 
neck.    (Revised  from  Civil  War — Song  and  Story.) 


Negro  Race  in  America.  133 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  END  OF  THE  WAR. 

For  four  years  the  American  people  had  been 
fighting  among  themselves.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
struggle  the  freedom  of  the  slaves  was  not  looked 
for  by  many.  But  the  Abolitionists,  who  grew 
stronger  as  the  war  progressed,  pressed  their  views 
upon  the  leaders  of  the  country.  They  took  every 
advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  make  the  free- 
dom of  the  slaves  the  main  issue  of  the  war;  and 
their  efforts,  coupled  with  the  desire  of  the  Union 
leaders  to  weaken  the  Confederacy  by  employing 
negro  troops,  to  whom  they  offered  freedom,  caused 
the  final  proclamation  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  1863, 
giving  freedom  to  the  slaves. 

In  this  War  there  were  employed  on  the  Union 
side  more  than  186,000  colored  soldiers,  whose 
bravery  stands  vouched  for  by  every  Union,  and 
many  Confederate  Generals,  who  saw  them  as  dar- 
ing in  the  face  of  death  as  their  fellow  white 
soldiers. 

On  the  Confederate  Side  there  were  enlisted 
throughout  the  South,  in  various  employments, 
some  six  thousand    colored  troops.     But  all  over 


134  A  School  History  of  the 

the  South,  while  their  masters  were  away  at  war, 
the  Negro  women  and  men  were  enlisted  in  the 
ranks  of  the  private  duties  of  the  Southern  soldiers' 
home,  which,  ever  be  it  remembered  to  the  honor 
and  credit  of  the  Negro  race  of  America,  they  pro- 
tected faithfully  and  industriously.  The  oppor- 
tunity for  outrage  and  plunder  was  open  on  every 
side,  but  not  a  hurtful  hand  was  laid  on  the  thou- 
sands of  white  widows,  orphans  and  aged  who 
lay  defenceless  in  the  Negroes'  power.  This  action 
on  the  part  of  the  slaves  proves  that  the  race  is 
not  fond  of  bloodshed,  and  is  kind  even  to  its 
foes. 

Some  Plantations,  on  the  contrary,  were  found 
in  better  trim  on  the  return  of  the  masters  from 
the  war  than  when  they  left  them. 

Negro  Body-servants  accompanied  their  masters 
into  the  war,  shared  the  roughs  of  camp  life,  and 
often  were  the  last  to  minister  to  their  wants  in 
the  hospital,  and  the  first  to  bear  the  tidings  home 
to  the  anxious  family  after  death;  taking  with 
them  sometimes  the  treasured  watch  or  ring. 

*Mr.  James  H.  Jones,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  served 
as  messenger  to   Mr.  Jefferson   Davis  during  his 


*  He  emphatically  denies  the  assertion  that  has  gained  currency,  to  the  effect 
that  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  while  escaping  from  the  Union  forces,  was  attired  in 
female  clothes.  Mr.  J.  states  that  the  Confederate  President  used  a  large  cloak, 
which  he  usually  wore  indoors,  to  disguise  himsell  with. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  135 

Presidency  of  the  Confederacy  at  Richmond.  He 
was  with  hiin  when  caught  by  the  Union  troops 
in  South-west  Georgia,  and  was  also  confined  with 
him  in  the  "Rip-Raps"  at  Hampton  Roads,  Vir- 
ginia. After  the  war,  Mr.  Jones  kept  up  a  corre- 
spondence with  Mr.  Davis  until  his  death,  and 
received  a  new  photograph  whenever  Mr.  Davis 
had  a  new  one  taken.  Mr.  Jones  is  now  an  hon- 
ored citizen  of  Raleigh,  and  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen. 


136  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

RECONSTRUCTION— 1865-'68. 

After  the  Surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox,  the 

question  arose  as  to  what  should  be  done  with  the 
Southern  States  that  for  four  years  had  rebelled 
against  the  flag  of  the  Union  and  had  set  up  a  flag 
of  their  own.  The  Southern  flag  was  now  con- 
quered ;  and  the  plan  of  the  North  was  to  restore 
these  conquered  States  into  the  Union.  Amnesty 
was  offered  all  those  who  desired  it.  A  Provisional 
Government  was  first  established  in  North  Carolina, 
with  W.  W.  Holdeu  at  its  head  ;  other  States  were 
organized  in  the  same  way.  Conventions  were 
called  by  the  Provisional  Governors  of  the  several 
States,  and  new  Constitutions  adopted  in  conformity 
with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Right  to  Vote  was  denied  .the  colored  people. 
Exclusion  from  public  places  was  established  by 
law.  Thirty-nine  lashes  was  the  punishment  for 
keeping  fire-arms.  When  white  persons  were  impli- 
cated colored  people  could  not  testify  in  the  courts. 

The  Thirteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution, 
making  the  race  citizens,  was  virtually  made  null 


Negro  Race  in  America.  137 

and  void  by  the  legislatures  of  the  reconstructed 
States.  So  it  became  necessary  to  pass  The  Civil 
Rights  Bill,  giving  the  colored  people  the  right  to 
enter  public  places,  and  ride  on  first-class  railroad 
cars.  This  bill  has  been  declared  unconstitutional 
by  our  Supreme  Court.  Owing  to  the  attempts  of 
the  Ku-Klux  Klan  to  prevent  colored  people  from 
voting,  the  fifteenth  amendment  was  passed  guar- 
anteeing to  them  the  right  to  vote  and  to  have  their 
votes  counted.  Thus  the  eleven  Southern  States 
were  reconstructed  on  a  basis  of  universal  suffrage, 
and  the  colored  race  began  to  develop  statesmen, 
orators,  lawyers,  judges,  teachers  of  various  kinds, 
ministers,  and  discreet,  far-seeing  business  men. 

the  freedmen's  bureau. 

The  design  of  this  institution  was  to  educate  the 
newly  emancipated  colored  people  into  all  the  ways 
of  freedom.  Schools  were  opened,  to  which  there 
was  a  general  rush,  so  great  was  the  thirst  for 
knowledge.  Many  gray  heads  could  be  seen  among 
the  children,  and  the  "Blue  Back  Speller"  was 
often  to  be  seen  even  in  the  Sabbath-schools.  Such 
a  stampede,  such  an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge, 
was  possibly  never  witnessed  anywhere  before. 
Many  very  old  people  learned  to  read  the  Bible  and, 


138  A  School  History  of  the 

the  joy  they  seemed  to  get  from  this  long  coveted 
privilege  was  poured  out  in  often,  thankful  and  fer- 
vent prayer. 

Gen.  0.  0.  Howard  was  a  leading  spirit  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  His 
design  was  to  make  the  colored  people  better  citi- 
zens in  every  respect.  With  him  was  associated  a 
saintly  corps  of  devoted,  missionary  inclined  white 
men  and  women,  who  planted  school-houses  and 
churches  in  many  a  hamlet  of  this  once  slave- 
cursed  but  now  free  land. 

Many  of  These  People  came  from  the  best  fami- 
lies of  the  North,  were  well  educated,  refined  and 
cultured.  Their  pupils  were  not  slow  in  catching 
the  beautiful  graces  of  these  instructors,  and  their 
extra  qualities  are  demonstrated  in  the  wonderful 
educational  progress  the  race  has  made  within  only 
twenty-six  years  of  actual  freedom. 

The  Plan  was  to  locate  schools  at  central  points 
where  teachers  and  preachers  might  be  trained  to 
go  out  into  the  rural  districts  in  which  the  majority 
of  the  race  still  lived.  The  money  was  contributed 
by  benevolent  people  of  the  North,  and  a  wiser 
investment,  both  for  God  and  humanity,  was  never 
made. 

Through  the  Influence  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
the  Southern  States  got  their  present   free-school 


Negro  Race  in  America.  139 

system,  which  they  did  not  have  before  the  war. 
Some  schools  established  during  this  time  were 
Shaw  University,  Raleigh,  N.  C. ;  Howard  Univer- 
sity, Washington,  D.  C. ;  Fisk  University,  Nash- 
ville, Tenn.  ;  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. ; 
Hampton  Normal  School,  Hampton,  Va.,  and 
many  others,  whose  influence  for  good  is  incal- 
culable. 


140  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

PROGRESS  SINCE  FREEDOM. 

Through  a  Century  and  a  Half  we  have  now 
traced  our  ancestors'  history.  We  have  seen  how 
they  performed  the  hard  tasks  assigned  them  by 
their  masters:  following  the  hoe  and  the  plow  with 
a  langh  and  a  song ;  making  magnificent  estates, 
bnilding  mansions,  furnishing  them  with  the  splen- 
dor of  the  times ;  so  eager  in  patriotism  as  to  be  the 
first  to  shed  their  blood  on  the  altar  of  their  country's 
liberty.  All  this  they  did  with  no  other  hope  of 
reward  than  a  slave's  cabin  and  a  life  of  bondage 
for  themselves  and  children.  Scarcely  have  they 
ever  sought  revenge  in  riot  or  bloodshed.  Stolen 
from  a  home  of  savage  freedom  they  found  them- 
selves in  strait  circumstances  as  slaves  in  America, 
but  the  greatness  of  the  Negro's  nature  crops  out 
plainly  in  the  wonderful  way  in  which  he  adapted 
himself  to  his  new  conditions.  The  fact  that  he 
went  to  work  willingly,  worked  so  long  and  faith- 
fully, and  rebelled  so  little,  marks  him  as  far 
superior  to  the  Indian,  who  never  accepts  the  con- 
ditions of  labor,  either  for  himself  or  another;  and 
universally   enjoys    the    rank   of  a   savage    rather 


Negro  Race  in  America.  141 

than  that  of  a  civilized  being.  A  plant  placed  in 
the  window  of  a  dark  chamber  gradually  bends  its 
foliage  towards  the  sunlight  ;  so  the  Negro,  sur- 
rounded by  the  darkness  of  slavery,  bent  his  life 
toward  the  light  of  his  master's  God.  He  found 
Him.  In  Him  he  trusted,  to  Him  he  prayed,  from 
Him  he  hoped  for  deliverance  ;  no  people  ever  were 
more  devout  according  to  their  knowledge  of  the 
word,  no  people  ever  suffered  persecution  more 
bravely,  no  people  ever  got  more  out  of  the  few 
talents  assigned  them  ;  and  for  this  humble  devo- 
tion, this  implicit  trust  and  faithfulness  God  has 
now  rewarded  them.  The  race  comes  out  of  slavery 
with  more  than  it  had  before  it  went  in.  But  there 
zvas  no  need  of  any  slavery  at  all.  Jamestozvn,  New 
England,  and  the  other  colonies,  might  have  held 
the  Negro  long  enough  to  serve  out  his  passage 
from  Africa,  and  then  given  him  his  freedom,  as 
they  did  their  white  slaves  imported  from  England. 
The  mistake  was  made  then,  the  mistake  became  a 
law  which  the  people  were  educated  to  believe  was 
just.  Many  did  not  believe  it,  and  some  slave- 
holders sought  to  make  the  condition  of  their  slaves 
comfortable.  The  affection  arising  between  the 
slave  and  his  master  often  governed  the  treatment. 
The  Negro,  being  largely  endowed  by  nature  with 
affection,    affability    and    a  forgiving    spirit,     gen- 


142  A  School  History  oj  the 

erally  won  for  himself  good  treatment.  Then,  too, 
the  master  had  some  soul,  and  where  that  ingre- 
dient of  his  make-np  was  deficient,  a  selfish  inter- 
est in'the  slave  as  his  property  somewhat  modified 
the  venom  that  might  have  more  often  visited  itself 
upon  the  unfortunate  slave  in  lashes  and  stripes. 

Many  Affections  and  Friendships  formed  between 
master  and  slave  exist  to  the  present  day.  Some 
slaves  are  still  at  the  old  homestead,  conditions 
entirely  reversed,  voting  differently  at  the  polls, 
but  friends  at  home;  and  in  death  the  family  of 
one  follows  that  of  the  other  to  the  grave. 

When  the  War  Ended  the  whole  South  was  in  an 
unsettled  condition — property  destroyed,  thousands 
of  her  sons  dead  on  the  battle-field,  no  credit,  con- 
quered. But  if  the  condition  of  the  whites  was 
bad,  that  of  the  blacks  was  worse.  They  were 
without. homes,  money,  or  learning.  They  were  now 
to  feed,  clothe  and  protect  themselves  in  a  govern- 
ment whose  treasury  they  had  enriched  with  two 
centuries  and  a  half  of  unrequited  labor,  and  a 
county  whose  laws  they  must  obey,  but  could  not 
read. 

It  Was  Natural  that  they  should  make  mistakes. 
But  they  made  less  mistakes  than  the  bummers  who 
came  South  for  plunder  during  reconstruction 
times,  and  with   the  false  promise  of  "forty  acres 


Negro  Race   in  America.  143 

and  a  mule,"  led  the  unlettered  race  into  a  season 
of  idleness  and  vain  hopes.  But  this  condition 
did  not  last.  The  Negro  inherited  the  ability  to 
work  from  the  institution  of  slavery.  He  soon 
set  about  to  utilize  this  ability.  I  ask  what  race 
could  have  done  more?  And  this  the  Negro 
has  done,  though  virtually  ostracised  from  the  ave- 
nues of  trade  and  speculation.  His  admission  to 
a  trades  union  is  the  exception,  rather  than  the  rule, 
in  America.  A  colored  boy  taking  a  place  as  porter 
in  a  store  at  the  same  time  with  a  white  boy,  may 
find  the  white  boy  soon  promoted  to  a  clerkship, 
then  to  a  partnership  in  the  firm,  if  he  is  smart; 
but  the  colored  boy  remains  year  after  year  where 
he  first  commenced,  no  matter  how  worthy,  no 
matter  how  competent.  His  lot  is  that  of  a  menial, 
custom  assigns  him  there,  and  in  looking  for  clerks 
and  partners  he  is  not  thought  of  by  the  white 
business  man ;  and  thus,  by  the  rigid  laws  of  custom, 
he  has  continually  lost  golden  opportunities  to 
forge  his  fortune;  yet  he  has  prospered  in  spite  of 
this,  and  it  bespeaks  for  him  a  superior  manhood. 


144  <A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

RELIGIOUS  PROGRESS. 

Before  the  war  the  colored  people  of  the  South 
worshipped  mainly  in  the  white  churches,  or  in  sep- 
arate churches  usually  ministered  to  by  white 
pastors.  But  the  colored  people,  naturally  inclined 
to  religion,  soon  developed  preachers  of  their  own. 
They  composed  their  own  music,  which  expressed, 
in  their  own  way,  thanks  and  petitions  to  heaven. 
Their  music  isoriginal,  entertaining,  and  pathetic — 
and  the  only  original  music  of  the  American  Cont- 
inent, when  we  remember  that  other  than  Negro 
tecniques  and  melodies  are  all  borrowed  from  the 
masters  of  Europe. 

Debarred  of  the  Privileges  of  schools,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  religion  of  the  slaves  should  be 
otherwise  than  somewhat  twisted  from  the  cul- 
tured tone  of  the  Bible  to  suit  the  whims  of  an 
unlettered  race.  It  can  be  truly  said  though,  that, 
considering  the  circumstances,  they  did  not  bury 
the  talents  given  them.  But  the  religious  progress 
since  freedom  is  so  marvelous  as  to  completely 
overshadow  much  of  the  darkness  of  the  past.     Let 


Negro  Race   in  America. 


145 


us  notice  briefly  several  of  the  great  religious 
denominations  of  the  race.  The  colored  people 
produce  less  infidels  than  any  other  similar  num- 
ber of  people  in  America.     They  are  proverbially 


religious  and  God-fearing. 


BISHOP  W.  J.  GAINES. 


Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines  is  a  representative  of  what 
twenty-five  years  of  freedom  has  done  in  many 
instances  for  the  colored  race.  He  was  born  a 
slave  in  Georgia  on  the  plantation  of  the  famous 
Robert  Toombs,  member  of  the  Confederate  Cab- 
inet. He  had  reached  his  majority  before  the 
10 


146  A  School  History  of  the 

p. 
war  ended,  and  it  is  needless  to  say  his  chances  for 

early  culture  were  very  meagre.  But,  nevertheless, 
he  learned  to  read  at  odd  moments,  and  after  freedom 
applied  himself  to  his  books  with  undaunted  and 
determined  zeal.  He  often  speaks  of  how  "I 
made  up  my  mind  when  I  entered  the  ministry 
to  reach  the  highest  position  in  my  church  through 
merit."  He  has  won  his  coveted  prize  in  this 
respect ;  and'  each  step  of  his  life,  from  the  plow- 
handle  to  the  Bishopric,  has  been  markedly  illus- 
trious. He  is  a  living  argument  of  the  innate  genius 
of  the  race,  that  might,  like  the  poet's  rose,  have 
been  "born  to  blush  unseen,"  but  for  the  fact  that 
he  embraced  the  possibilities  that  freedom  opened 
up  before  him.  He  is  of  commanding  presence, 
dignified,  and  a  natural  leader  of  men.  It  is  an 
inspiration  to  be  in  his  presence,  and  his  appear- 
ance on  the  rostrum  is  natural  and  complete. 

He  has  possibly  built  more  church  edifices  than 
any  other  member  of  his  denomination.  Morris 
Brown  College,  of  Atlanta,  worth  something  over 
seventy  thousand  dollars,  is  the  work  of  his 
hands,  and  that  of  itself  would  sufficient^  speak 
for  his  ability,  without  referring  to  thousands  of 
dollars  raised  for  other  purposes.  Bishop  Gaines 
can  be  counted  on  to  foster  and  encourage  any 
enterprise  tending  to  the  benefit  of  the  Negro  race, 


Negro  Race  in  America.  147 

and  he  never  fails  to  encourage  the  young  people 
who  are  anxious  to  rise. 

The  A.  M.  E.  Church,  founded  by  Rev.  Richard 
Allen,  of  Philadelphia,  Penu.,  because  of  the  spirit 
of  caste  and  race  prejudice  of  the  Protestant 
Church  during  and  after  the  American  Revolution, 
has  exerted  a  broad  and  unmeasured  influence 
upon  the  Negro  race.  From  a  meeting  held  in 
1816,  at  Rev.  Allen's  private  house,  has  sprung 
surprising  results.  It  has  3,394  churches,  valued 
at  $5,028,126;  660  parsonages,  valued  at  $312,- 
763.75,  and  the  total  valuation  of  church  property 
is  $5,341,889.25.  It  has  a  publication  depart- 
ment, which  sends  out  the  Christian  Recorder  and 
A.  M.  E.  Revieiv  to  thousands  of  people.  The 
salaries  of  the  editors  of  these  papers  amount  to 
$10,800.  In  1887,  the  money  raised  for  all  pur- 
poses was  $1,064,569.50,  with  an  indebtedness 
of  $509,113.24.  Wilberforce  University  is  a  noted 
institution  controlled  by  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 
The  influence  of  this  church  for  good  among 
the  people  cannot  be  measured.  The  bishops 
are  an  extraordinary  set  of  learned  men,  many 
of  whom  are  self-made,  but  yet  are  authors, 
orators,  linguists,  theologians  and  scholars  that 
will  compare  favorably  with  the  best  theological 
brain  of  America. 


148 


A  School  History  of  the 


REV.  E.    M.  BRAWLEY. 


Rev.  E.  M.  Brawley,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  is 
noted  especially  for  his  sober,  earnest  aud  pious 
Christian  life.  He  is  a  scholarly  gentleman  and 
thoroughly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  people. 
It  has  been  his  fortune  to  be  President  of  Selma 
University,  Ala. ;  Sunday-school  agent  in  South 
Carolina,  and  editor  of  the  Baptist  Tribune.  Such, 
a  hard-working,  zealous  and  thoroughly  honest 
man  should  be  a  pride  to  any  race. 


Negro  Race   in  America.  149 

The  Baptist  Church  was  founded  by  Roger  Wil- 
liams. The  church  officers  derive  their  power  from 
the  members.  In  the  beginning  Roger  Williams' 
influence  had  a  tendency  to  keep  down  race 
prejudice.  But  from  the  rapid  increase  of  slaves, 
the  feeling  grew  until  self-interest  demanded  a 
separation.  They  form  a  body  of  useful  and 
intelligent  people.  Kentucky  has  a  host  of  Bap- 
tists, who  own  much  valuable  property.  There  are 
more  Baptists  in  Virginia  than  any  other  Southern 
State.  Some  of  the  churches  have  very  large 
congregations.  There  are  a  large  number  of  Bap- 
tist churches  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  some  of 
which  have  interesting  histories.  Among  the 
noble,  true  and  faithful  workers  of  the  Baptists  are 
Duke,  Williams,  Anderson  and  Leonard,  Andrew 
Grimes  and  Dr.  W.  J.  Simmons,  of  Louisville,  Ky., 
who  have  consecrated  their  lives  to  their  church  in 
the  spreading  of  the  gospel. 

The  Baptist  Church  exercises  a  religious  and  edu- 
cational influence  over  more  colored  people  than 
any  other  denomination  in  America.  I  gather 
from  the  minutes  of  their  National  Convention  of 
1887,  that  they  have  a  total  membership  in  the 
United  States  of  1,155,486;  and  that  they  have 
6,605    ordained    ministers,    3,304    Sabbath-schools, 


i  .SO 


A  School  History  of  the 


Negro  Race  in  America.  151 

with  10,718  teachers  and  officers,  and  194,492 
pupils.  They  own  $3,056,571  worth  of  church 
property.  They  operate  twenty-five  colleges  and 
seminaries,  worth  $1,072,140,  and  in  which  are 
annually  taught  more  than  3,609  pupils. 

The  A.  M.  E.  Zion  Church  is  another  of  the  power- 
ful religious  denominations  among  the  colored 
people,  and  is  everywhere  urging  the  race  to  a 
higher  standard  of  living  in  all  respects.  Their 
membership  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  500,000. 
They  support  and  control  entirely  Livingston  Col- 
lege, of  Salisbury,  N.  C,  a  progressive  and  well 
manned  institution,  and  the  Star  of  Zion,  the  church 
organ,  ably  edited  by  Mr.  John  C.  Dancy.  The 
Livingston  College  Faculty  is  all  colored,  and  it 
has  property  valued  at  over  $100,000. 

The  Northern  Methodist  Church  supports  many 
churches  in  the  South  ministered  over  by  colored 
pastors.  There  are  several  schools  supported  by 
them,  prominent  among  which  is  Bennett  College, 
of  Greensboro,  N.  C,  and  controlled  entirely  by  a 
colored  Faculty.  Other  schools  of  this  denomina- 
tion manned  by  white  Faculties  are,  with  Bennett 
College,  doing  a  most  necessary  and  beneficial  work 
among  the  colored  people.  So  might  be  mentioned 
schools  and  churches  supported  by  Northern  Pres- 
byterians, Northern  Congregationalists,  and  other 


152  A  School  History  of  the 

denominations,  all  of  which  are  to  be  reckoned  as 
great  uplifting  agencies  among  the  colored  people. 
Some  of  the  Northern  societies  spend  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  every  year  on  Negro  education 
and  religion  in  the  South. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  153 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

EDUCATIONAL  PROGRESS. 

Can  the  Negro  learn  anything?  was  the  first  ques- 
tion he  had  to  answer  after  schools  were  estab- 
lished for  hirn.  He  has  answered  this  question 
satisfactorily  to  the  most  incredulous  in  every 
instance  where  brought  to  a  test.  The  fact  that 
every  slave  State  had  laws  against  his  being  taught 
before  the  war,  and  that  they  opposed  it  afterwards, 
ought  to  be  a  sufficient  answer.  But  if  this  is  not 
sufficient,  let  speak  the  deeds  of  Professor  Scar- 
borough, of  Macon,  Ga.,  author  of  a  series  of  Greek 
text-books  which  have  been  adopted  at  Yale ;  Geo. 
W.  Williams,  author  of  "History  of  the  Amer- 
ican Negro;"  Jos.  T.  Wilson,  author  of  "Black 
Phalanxi";  C.  G.  Morgan,  class  orator  at  Harvard, 
1890,  and  a  host  of  others. 

WHAT  THE  SOUTH  IS  DOING  FOR  NEGRO  EDUCATION. 

It  would  be  a  serious  error  to  omit,  in  speaking 
of  the  educational  progress  of  the  Negro  since 
freedom,  what  has  been  done  to  help  him  by  the 
Southern  States.     Though  at  first  bitterly  opposed 


154  A  School  History  of  the 

to  Negro  education,  there  has  been  a  wonderful 
change  of  sentiment  on  this  subject.  They  made 
laws  against  Negro  education  before  the  war,  now 
they  make  laws  for  it.  In  the  more  liberal  portions 
of  many  Southern  States,  good  schools  are  provided 
for  the  colored  children.  Some  States  have  asylums 
for  the  deaf,  dumb,  blind  and  insane.  The 
Institute  for  these  unfortunates  at  Raleigh,  N.  C, 
is  entirely  supported  by  the  State,  which  employs 
a  most  competent  colored  Principal  in  the  person 
of  Professor  W.  F.  Debnam.  The  South  spends 
annually  about  $6,000, coo  on  Negro  schools,  and 
this  sum  will  soon  be  increased.  Some  of  the 
States  have  Normal  Schools,  Universities  and  Train- 
ing Schools  for  the  colored  youth.  There  are  some 
who  oppose  Negro  education  on  the  ground  that 
the  whites  pay  two-thirds  of  the  taxes.  A  false 
position  this — the  laborer  and  consumer  pay  the 
taxes  on  capital.  The  Negro  is  the  laborer  of  the 
South,  and  a  large  consumer.  He  produces  more 
than  a  billion  dollars  worth  of  farm  products  annually, 
not  estimating  other  products;  and  it  is  his  toil, 
his  muscle  that  makes  the  school-fund ;  and  out  of 
the  inexhaustible  store-house  of  his  own  labor  does 
he  draw  his  quota  of  the  appropriation  for  the 
schools. 

The  High  Schools,  Seminaries,  Colleges  and  Pro- 
fessional  Schools  for  the   colored  people,  number 


Negro  Race   in  America. 


155 


156  A  School  History  of  the 

nearly  two  hundred.  Many  of  them  are  controlled 
entirely  by  colored  Faculties,  as  Livingston  and 
Bennett  Colleges,  N.  G. ;  Kittrell's  Normal  and 
Industrial  Institute,  and  Shaw  University,  except 
its  President,  who  is  white,  but  one  of  the  first 
Presidents  to  recognize  the  ability  of  3^011  ng  colored 
men  to  teach  the  higher  branches.  Dr.  H.  M. 
Tupper  inaugurated  a  movement  by  putting  young 
colored  men  at  work  in  Shaw  University,  which  has 
been  followed  by  many  of  the  other  schools  sup- 
ported by  donations  from  white  friends  in  the  North. 
The  plan  works  admirably  well,  and,  besides  teach- 
ing the  race  to  confide  in  the  ability  of  its  own 
educated  men  and  women,  it  affords  lucrative 
employment  to  many  who  are  by  nature  and  choice 
fitted  for  the  work  of  teaching. 

A  Self-made  Man  is  a  worthy  description  when 
applied  to  a  Saxon.  But  a  knowledge  of  the  facts 
will  teach  us  that  nine-tenths  of  all  the  leading 
Negroes  were  and  are  self-made.  The  royal  road 
to  knowledge  is  beyond  question  closed  to  the  young 
colored  man. 

There  is  No  Large  Estate  to  draw  on  for  school 
bills;  no  rich  uncle  or  kinsman  to  foot  the  bill  and 
wait  till  success  in  after  years  for  a  settlement. 
His  own  brawny  muscle  is  usually  the  young 
colored    student's    means    of    support.     Many    of 


Negro  Race  in  America.  157 

them  work  in  school  between  hours-  In  fact,  most 
of  the  schools  for  colored  people  in  the  South 
assign  certain  hours  each  day  in  which,  the  stu- 
dents are  to  labor.  Some  institutions  do  not  spend 
one  cent  for  domestic  labor  during  the  whole  of  the 
school  terms.  Yet  they,  in  some  instances,  raise 
quite  enough  farm  and  garden  products  for  their 
tables,  and  sometimes  make  brick  enough  to  put 
up  extra  buildings.  The  time  usually  used  by  the 
white  student  in  foot-ball  and  other  games  is  util- 
ized by  the  colored  student  in  faithful  toil.  The 
fact  that  in  none  of  the  colored  schools  the  expense 
for  tuition,  board,  lodging,  laundry-work  and  inci- 
dentals is  over  $12  per  month  (and  in  some  cases 
it  is  as  low  as  $6),  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of 
the  help  the  Negro  youth  furnishes  towards  his 
own  education.  People  with  such  a  love  for  knowl- 
edge that  they  are  willing  to  thus  toil  for  it,  may 
be  relied  upon  to  use  that  knowledge  properly. 

When  the  War  Closed  there  were  about  four 
million  colored  people  in  the  United  States.  Scarcely 
a  million  of  them  could  read.  Now  they  number 
about  eight  millions,  and  nearly  half  of  them  can 
read.  There  are  1,158,008  colored  children  in  the 
schools,  anually  taught  by  20,000  Negro  teachers. 
The  colored  people  of  the  South  have  made  more 
progress   in   education   since  the  war  than  in  any- 


158  A  School  History  of  the 

thing  else  ;  and  they  are  still  thirsty  for  knowledge. 
The  schools  everywhere  are  crowded.  The  love 
of  knowledge  seems  to  be  instinctive,  and  thousands 
of  faithful  mothers  spend  many  weary  nights  at 
the  ironing-board  and  wash-tub,  in  order  to  get 
money  to  help  their  children  obtain  an  education. 
With  the  start  they  now  have,  twenty-five  years 
more  of  earnest  work  will  show  marvelous  changes 
in  the  educational  condition  of  the  race.  No  people 
ever  learned  more  in  so  short  a  time. 

MUSICAL    PROGRESS. 

The  Fisk  Jubilee  Singers  have  sung  the  fame  of 
the  Negro  in  all  America,  much  of  Europe  and 
Australia.  The  slave  music  is  the  only  original 
music  of  America.  The  Indian  has  none,  and  white 
Americans  have  borrowed  from  the  masters  of 
Europe.  Negro  melodies  are  now  a  part  of  the 
classical  music  of  this  country.  The  peculiarity  of 
Negro  song  is  its  pathos  and  trueness  to  nature. 
It  stirs  the  soul  and  revives  a  sunken  hope.  Trav- 
elers describe  the  music  of  the  native  African  as 
sung  in  a  major  key,  which  key  characterizes  the 
songs  of  a  conquering  people.  Slavery  has  not 
extracted  this  characteristic  totally  from  the  Ameri- 
can    Negro's    songs.     While    he    sings    not    the 


Negro  Race  in  America.  159 

conquering  major  of  battle,  lie  thrills  you  with  the 
pleasing  minor  of  hope.  Dr.  Talmage  says: 
"Everybody  knows  the  natural  gift  of  the  African 
for  singing.  No  singing  on  this  continent  like 
that  of  the  colored  churches  in  the  South.  Every- 
body going  to  Richmond  or  Charleston  wants  to 
hear  the  Africans  sing." 


1 60  A  School  History  of  the 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

FINANCIAL  PROGRESS. 

The  Freedmen's  Savings  Bank,  though  it  failed, 
furnishes  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  thrift 
and  industty  of  the  recently  emancipated  slaves. 
In  this  bank  the  colored  people  deposited  during 
the  years  between  1866  and  1871,  about  $57,000,000. 
The  original  design  of  this  institution  was  doubt- 
less good,  but  it  fell  into  bad  hands  and  the  conse- 
quence was  a  most  disgraceful  failure. 

The  Negro's  Confidence  in  banks  was,  on  his 
first  trial  of  them,  badly  shaken.  He  has  not 
recovered  yet.  Many  colored  people  who  would 
deposit  their  money  now,  are  reluctant  to  do  so 
when  they  remember  the  "  Freedmen's  Bank  fail- 
ure." The  branch  offices  of  the  bank  in  the  dif- 
ferent States  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  colored 
men  who  worked  for  salaries  under  instructions 
from  the  home  office.  To  this  day  sentiment 
attaches  blame  on  these  colored  bank  officers,  who 
themselves  were  as  much  deluded  as  the  depositors. 
It  was  a  sad  and  disgraceful  piece  of  legalized  rob- 
bery. But  the  Negro  is  putting  his  money  in  other 
enterprises,  and  though  unsuccessful  in  his  first,  his 


Negro  Race  in  America.  161 

last  efforts  at  economy  are  bearing  rich  fruit.  The 
property  owned  by  the  colored  people  now  is  com- 
puted at  the  following  figures: 

Twenty-five  Years'  Accumulations:  Alabama, 
$9,200,125;  Arkansas,  $8,010,315;  Florida,  $7,900, - 
400;  Georgia,  $10,415,330;  Kentucky,  $5,900,010; 
Louisiana,  $18,100,528;  Mississippi,  $13,400,213; 
Missouri,  $6,600,343  ;  North  Carolina,  $11,010,652  ; 
South  Carolina,  $12,500,000  ;  Texas,  $18,010,545  ; 
Tennessee,  $10,400,211  ;  Virginia,  $4,900,000. 

The  Colored  Churches  in  the  United  States  own 
$16,310,441;  the  total  amount  of  property  owned 
by  the  colored  people  in  all  the  States  is  rated  at 
over  $263,000,000. 

Much  Property  is  owned  by  the  colored  people 
of  the  North  and  West.  Some  of  their  estates 
run  high  into  the  hundred  thousands.  Many,  of 
them,  though  shut  out  almost  entirely  from  the 
trades  and  business  avenues,  have  accumulated 
handsome  homes,  and  live  in  elegance  and  refine- 
ment. 

Rev.  A.  G.Davis,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  in  an  address  at 
the  North  Carolina  Colored  Agricultural  Fair,  said, 
in  reference  to  the  Negro's  progress,  this,  among 
other  things :  "  Scan  if  you  will  the  long  line  of  eight 
million  Negroes  as  they  march  slowly  but  surely 
up  the  road  of  progress,  and  you  will  find  in  her 
11 


1 62  A  School  History  of  the 

ranks  such  men  as  Granville  T.  Woods,  of  Ohio, 
the  electrician,  mechanical  engineer,  manufacturer 
of  telephones,  telegraph  and  electrical  instruments ; 
William  Still,  of  Philadelphia,  the  coal  dealer ; 
Henry  Tanner,  the  artist;  John  W.  Terr)',  foreman 
of  the  Iron  and  Fitting  Department  of  the  Chicago 
West  Division  Street  Car  Company;  J.  D.  Balti- 
more, engineer,  machinist  and  inventor,  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. ;  Wiley  Jones,  of  Pine  Bluff,  Ark., 
the  owner  of  a  street  car  railroad,  race  track  and 
park  ;  Richard  M.  Hancock,  foreman  of  the  pattern 
shops  of  the  Eagle  Works  and  Manufacturing  Co., 
and  draughtsman  ;  John  Black,  the  inventor, 
whose  inventions  are  worth  tens  of  thousands ; 
W.  C.  Atwood,  the  lumber  merchant  and  capitalist." 
To  this  we  might  add  a 

LIST  OF    THE  NAMES  OF  A  FEW  WEALTHY    COLORED 
MEN  IN    THE  UNITED  STATES'. 

QUOTED  AT 

Amanda  Bubanks,  of  Georgia $  400,000 

Wm.  Still,  Philadelphia 200,000 

B.  K.  Bruce,  Washington,  D.  C 200,000 

Mrs.  M.  Carpenter,  San  Francisco 300,000 

Jno.  McKee,  Philadelphia 300,000 

Robt.  Purvis,  Washington,  D.  C 150,000 


Negro  Race   in  America. 


163 


Mrs.  Mars,  New  York $  100,000 

Mr.  Smith,  New  York .  150,000 

Mr.  D.  C.  White,  New  York 130,000 

Mr.  W.  C.  Coleman,  North  Carolina--  100,000 

Bishop  Beebee,  North  Carolina 50,000 

A  family  in  Texas 12 ,000,000 

Fred.  Douglass,  Washington,  D.  C 200,000 

Bowers'  Estate,  Philadelphia. 80,000 

Bx.  Gov.  P.  S.  B.  Pinchback,  Louisiana,  150,000 
Mr.  J.  H.  Lewis,  of  Boston,  formerly  of 

North  Carolina 70,000 

The  Morrisettes,  of  South  Carolina.-  130,000 

John  Thomas,  Baltimore 150,000 

-  W.  Q.  At  wood,  Baltimore 300,000 

Mr.  Avery  Smith,  Florida 80,000 

Several  in  Alabama 50,000 

Twenty  in  North  Carolina 10,000 

Fifty  in  Georgia 10,000 

One  hundred  in  Louisiana 10,000 

Twelve  in  Mississippi 10,000 

Sixty  in  Texas 10,000 

Eight  in  Virginia 10,000 

All  the  States  have  numbers  of  colored  individ- 
uals whose  wealth  is  rated  between  five  and  ten 
thousand  dollars. 

In  closing  this  chapter  on  the  progress  of  the  race 
since  the  war,  we  desire  to  say  to  you,  our  young 


164  A  School  History  of  the 

t. 
readers,  that  much  has  been  done,  as  you  have  read 
in  this  chapter,  to  raise  the  race  in  the  estimation 
of  the  world,  but  much  more  remains  to  be  done. 
What  has  been  said  in  this  chapter  is  not  to  make 
you  content  and  satisfied;  but  rather  to  inspire  new 
zeal  and  fresh  courage,  that  each  one  of  you  may 
add  something  more  to  what  has  already  been 
accomplished.  You  can,  you  must,  and  we  believe 
you  will.  Do  not  falter  on  account  of  difficulties. 
Set  your  standard  high  and  go  to  it,  remembering 
that  labor,  coupled  with  a  strong  devotion  to  integ- 
rity, will  surely  conquer. 


■3=5rf»< 


Negro  Race   in  America.  165 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

SOME  NOTED  NEGROES. 

Hon.  Hiram  R.  Revels,  a  native  of  North  Carolina, 
graduate  of  Knox  College,  111.,  A.  M.  K.  min- 
ister, President  of  Alcorn  University,  Mississippi, 
elected  to  the  State  Senate,  Mississippi,  was  the 
first  Negro  to  hold  the  position  of  U.  S.  Senator, 
elected  to  fill  the  place  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  1869, 
to  the  wonder  and  surprise  of  all  America. 

Hon.  J.  Mercer  Langston,  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  LL.D. ;  great 
Indian-Anglo-Saxon  Negro.  Grew  to  manhood, 
educated  and  pursued  a  business  and  official  life  in 
Ohio  up  to  time  of  manhood.  He  made  unsuc- 
cessful attempts,  on  account  of  his  color,  in  New 
York  and  Ohio,  to  attend  the  law  schools.  After 
attempting  private  lessons,  he  grew  discouraged  and 
graduated  from  the  Theological  Department  of 
Oberlin  College,  Ohio.  He  then  studied  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  After  this  he  was  made 
Dean  and  Professor  of  Taw  at  Howard  University, 
where  he  received  the  degree  of  TL-D.  President 
Hayes  appointed  him  U.  S.   Minister   and   Consul 


1 66 


A  School  History  of  the 


General  to  Hayti,  which  position  he  honorably  held 
eight  years.  He  was  also  President  of  the  Virginia 
Normal  Collegiate  Institute. 

Hon.  Robert  Small,  the  pilot  and  captain  of  the 
steamer  Planet,  also  the  Congressman,  must  not  be 


ROBERT  SMAIX. 


overlooked  on  these  pages.  Moving  from  Beau- 
fort, South  Carolina,  to  Charleston  in  '51,  he  was 
employed  as  "rigger,"  thereby  getting  a  knowledge 
of  ships  and  the  life  of  sailors.  His  greatest  work 
was    with    the    Planter,    a    Confederate    transport 


Negro  Race  in  America.  167 

steamer  in  '61,  afterwards  used  as  a  dispatch  boat. 
The  officers  retired  from  the  boat  on  the  night  of 
May  13,  1862,  and  left  eight  colored  men  on  watch, 
Small  being  one  of  the  number.  He  was  only 
called  a  wheelman  then,  but  in  reality  was  a  pilot. 
He  with  the  others  on  board  conceived  the  risky 
plan  of  giving  the  boat  over  to  the  Federals.  Every- 
thing being  ready,  and  after  taking  on  Small's  wife 
and  three  children,  they  started  out  at  2  o'clock. 
In  passing  out  of  the  harbor  and  by  each  fort  the 
steamer  gave  her  signals  as  though  the  Confederate 
captain  was  on  board,  and  everything  was  all  right. 
The  dangerous  plan,  which  if  it  had  been  found  out 
would  have  ended  in  instant  death,  was  a  success. 
The  boat  was  given  over  to  the  Federal  Captain 
Nichols,  who  found  her  quite  an  additional  help  to 
the  Union. 

ROBERT   B.    ELLIOTT. 

On  the  pages  of  history  no  name  shines  forth 
with  more  lustre  than  that  of  Hon.  Bobert  B. 
Elliott.  He  was  one  of  earth's  sons,  plucked  too 
soon  to  reap  the  harvest  which  was  in  store  for 
him.  This  eloquent  orator  and  distinguished 
lawyer  was  a  graduate  from  an  English  college. 
After  finishing  there  he  studied  law  under  Fitz- 
Herbert,  of  the  London  bar.     He  then  came  to  the 


1 68  A  School  History  of  the 

United  States,  and  began  his  brilliant  and  successful 
career.  It  was  in  the  Forty-second  Congress, 
while  a  representative  of  South  Carolina,  that  he 
impressed  himself  indelibly  upon  the  minds  of  his 
country  as  a  man  of  giant  intellect  and  rare  oratori- 
cal ability.  Alexander  Stephens  of  Georgia,  Beck  of 
Kentucky,  Harris  of  Virginia,  had  severely  assailed 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Civil  Rights  Bill  after 
which  Mr.  Elliott  arose  and  addressed  the  House  as 
follows,  an  effort  that  bespeaks  the  ability  of  the  man  : 
"  Mr.  Speaker,  while  I  am  sincerely  grateful  for 
the  high  mark  of  courtesy  that  has  been  accorded 
me  by  this  House,  it  is  a  matter  of  regret  to  me 
that  it  is  necessary  at  this  day  that  I  should  rise  in 
the  presence  of  an  American  Congress  to  advocate 
a  bill  which  simply  asserts  rights  and  equal  privi- 
leges for  all  classes  of  American  citizens.  I  regret, 
sir,  that  the  dark  hue  of  my  skin  may  lend  a  color 
to  the  imputation  that  I  am  controlled  by  motives 
personal  to  myself  in  my  advocacy  of  this  great 
measure  of  natural  justice.  Sir,  the  motive  that 
impels  me  is  restricted  by  no  such  narrow  boundary, 
but  is  as  broad  as  your  Constitution.  I  advocate 
it,  sir,  because  it  is  right.  The  bill,  however,  not 
only  appeals  to  your  justice,  but  it  demands  a 
response  to  your  gratitude.     In  the  events  that  led 


Negro  Race  in  America.  169 

to  the  achievement  of  American  independence 
the  Negro  was  not  an  inactive  or  unconcerned 
spectator.  He  bore  his  part  bravely  upon  many 
battle-fields,  although  uncheered  by  that  certain 
hope  of  political  elevation  which  victory  would 
secure  to  the  white  man.  The  tall  granite  shaft, 
which  a  grateful  State  has  reared  above  its  sons 
who  fell  in  defending  Fort  Griswold  against  the 
attack  of  Benedict  Arnold,  bears  the  name  of 
John  Freeman  and  others  of  the  African  race,  who 
there  cemented  with  their  blood  the  corner-stone  of 
your  Republic.  In  the  State,  which  I  have  had 
the  honor  in  part  to  represent,  the  rifle  of  the  black 
man  rang  out  against  the  troops  of  the  British 
crown  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  American  Rev- 
olution. :::  *  *  I  meet  him  (Stephens)  only  as  an 
adversary,  nor  shall  age  or  any  other  consideration 
restrain  me  from  saying  that  he  now  offers  this 
Government,  which  he  has  done  his  utmost  to 
destroy,  a  very  poor  return  for  its  magnanimous 
treatment,  to  come  here  to  seek  to  continue,  by 
the  assertion  of  doctrines  obnoxious  to  the  true 
principles  of  our  Government,  the  burdens  and 
oppressions,  which  rest  upon  five  millions  of  his 
countrymen,  who  never  failed  to  lift  their  earnest 
prayers  for  the  success  of  this  Government,  when 
the  gentleman  was  asking  to  break  up  the  Union 


170 


A  School  History  of  the 


of  the  States,  and  to  blot  the  American  Republic 
from  the  galaxy  of  nations."  *  *  *  He  related 
to  Mr.  Beck  the  story  of  the  fleeing  of  the  Ken- 
tucky soldiers  at  a  most  urgent  time  during  the 
second  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  then  proceeded 
to  say:  "In  quoting  this  indisputable  piece  of 
history,  I  do  so  only  by  way  of  admonition,  and 
not  to  question  the  well-attested  gallantry  of  the 
true  Kentuckian,  and  to  suggest  to  the  gentleman 
that  he  should  not  flaunt  his  heraldry  so  proudly 
while  he  bears  this  bar-sinister  on  the  military 
escutcheon  of  his  State — a  State  which  answered 
the  call  of  the  Republic  in  1S61,  when  treason 
thundered  at  the  very  gates  of  the  Capital,  by 
coldly  declaring  her  neutrality  in  the  impending 
struggle.  The  Negro,  true  to  that  patriotism  that 
has  ever  characterized  and  marked  his  histor}^ 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  Government  in  its  efforts  to 
maintain  the  Constitution.  To  that  Government 
he  now  appeals  ;  that  Constitution  he  now  invokes 
for  protection  against  unjust  prejudices  founded 
upon  caste." 

William  Wells  Brown,  Esq.,  was  born  of  slave 
parents;  he  escaped  to  the  North  and  so  improved 
his  time  from  then  on  until  he  is  now  known  to  the 
world  as  M.  D. ;  historian  of  the  Negro  race,  lecturer 
and  author. 


Aefrro  Race   in  America. 


171 


BISHOP  D    A.   PAYNE. 


172  A  School  History  of  the 

u. 

Rev.  D.  A.  Payne,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  is  the  oldest  bishop 
of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  also  its  true,  tried  friend. 
He  is  a  great  educator,  and  has  the  Negro's  best 
interests  at  heart.  Many  generous  and  noble  deeds 
has  he  done  for  his  race.  He  is  the  scholar  and 
reverenced  father  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

Rev.  William  T.  Dixon,  the  pastor  of  Concord 
Baptist  Church,  greatly  deserves  notice.  Rev. 
Dixon  has  been  a  great  power  in  his  church,  and  has 
been  the  means  of  exerting  an  excellent  intellectual 
and  moral  influence  upon  his  people  at  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.  His  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  souls 
of  his  fellow-men  are  untiring,  patient,  and  full  of 
sacrifice.  Manj^  faces  brighten  and  hearts  ring 
with  joy  when  his  name  is  called. 

Bishop  H.  M.  Turner  is  well  known  throughout 
the  United.  States.  He  stands  as  a  model  for  the 
poor  boy  to-cla}^  with  scanty  means.  His  early 
efforts  for  an  education  were  accompanied  with 
many  disappointments  and  failures.  Though  free, 
he  had  to  submit  to  the  law,  "no  Negro  must  be 
educated."  However,  he  got  a  start  and  added  to 
his  small  stock  until  he  could  read  the  Bible  and 
hymn-book.  It  is  said  that  he  learned  fifty  psalms 
in  a  night,  and  while  plowing  repeated  them  to  his 
co-laborers.  He  was  hired  out  most  of  the  time 
by  his  father;  his  work  was  always  with  hard  and 


Negro  Race   in  Am  erica.  173 

often  cruel  overseers.  But  lie  said,  and  kept  his 
word,  when  a  boy,  no  white  man  should  whip  and 
scar  his  back.  When  about  fifteen  years  of  age  he 
was  employed  as  waiting-boy  in  a  law  office,  where  he 
attracted  special  notice  by  his  tenacious  memory  and 
accuracy  in  delivering  messages.  The  lawyers 
took  an  interest  in  him  and  taught  him  whatever 
he  wanted  to  learn.  From  this  he  moved  on  from 
one  level  to  the  next  higher — being  a  hard  student 
all  the  way  up  to  the  present.  He  now  is  known 
as  bishop,  philosopher,  politician,  author,  devoted 
race-man,  and  ex-United  States  Chaplain. 

Hon.  P.  B.  S.  Pinchback  has  the  honor  of  having 
held  more  positions  than  any  other  colored  man. 
He  was  a  true  and  faithful  soldier  during  the  civil 
war.  At  the  time  of  the  impeachment  of  Governor 
Warmouth,  of  Louisiana,  he  became  acting  Gov- 
ernor of  that  State,  finally  becoming  the  real  Gov- 
ernor until  the  term  expired. 

Prof.  Richard  Theodore  Greener  stands  with  the 
first  scholars  of  the  Negro  race.  His  essays  and 
orations  rank  high  in  the  fields  of  literature  and 
oratory.  He  has  held  the  position  of  Chief  Civil 
Service  Examiner  of  New  York  City,  lawyer,  prize 
essayist,  orator,  and  Dean  of  the  Law' Department 
of  Howard  University. 


i/4 


A  School  History  of  the 


MP 


B.  K.  BRUCE. 


Senator  B.  K.  Bruce,  another  son  of  the  Negro 
race,  though  not  receiving  his  privilege  as  a  man 
until  1865,  and  notwithstanding  then  having 
attained  to  the  age  of  24,  smothered  no  longer  the 
intellectual  fires  then  burning  in  his  soul.  Though 
a  Virginian  he  entered  into  public  life  in  Missis- 
sippi.    Much  useful  knowledge  he  gathered  while 


Negro  Race  in  America.  175 

sergent-at-arms  of  the  State  Senate  of  Mississippi, 
which  helped  him  to  admirably  fill  his  place  as 
U.  S.  Senator.  It  was,  also,  his  honor  to  hold  the 
position  of  Register  of  the  U.  S.  Treasury. 

Prof.  W.  S.  Scarborough  is  the  author  of  a  set  of 
Greek  text-books  which  have  been  adopted  at  Yale ; 
he  is  also  versed  in  many  of  the  modern  and  ancient 
languages  including,  Gothic,  Zend,  Old  Slavonic, 
Lithuanian,  and  Sanscrit.  In  every  respect  he  is 
a  representative  man  ;  having  come  up  from  poverty 
and  obscurity  to  his  present  high  position  in  life. 
He  was  born  in  Macon,  Ga.  When  the  war  closed 
he.  like  many  other  colored  boys,  entered  the 
"Yankee  school"  there,  from  which  he  subse- 
quently attended  Atlanta  University.  From  there, 
he  went  to  Oberlin,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in 
1875.  He  taught  school  in  the  vacation  months  to 
support  himself  while  in  school.  Well  may  we 
say  he  is  a  self-made  man,  if  unflagging  industry, 
self-reliance,  and  an  indomitable  determination 
to  succeed  may  be  counted  as  ingredients  in  the 
make-up  of  such  characters.  He  is  now  teacher  of 
classics  in  Wilberforce  University,  which  position 
he  holds  in  preference  to  many  others  his  scholarly 
abilities  fit  him  for,  and  which  he  might  attain. 
He  is  recognized  as  a  thorough  scholar  by  the 
world  of  learned  men,  and  stands  out  as  an  unchal- 
lenged vindication. of  the  race's  ability. 


176  A  School  History  of  the 

Prof.  B.  T.  Washington  is  what  we  so  often  hear 
of,  a  self-made  man.  Being  left  quite  young  an 
orphan  to  forge  his  own  way  through  the  world, 
he  started  out  determined  to  get  an  education. 
With  the  assistance  of  friends,  he  reached  Hampton 
Institute  with  fifty  cents  in  his  pocket.  He 
finished  the  course  by  working  out  his  expenses 
as  janitor.  After  graduating  at  Hampton,  he 
taught  a  while  at  Maiden,  Va.,  then  his  home,  and 
then  took  a  course  of  study  at  Wayland  Seminary. 
He  taught  two  years  at  Hampton  Institute  and 
then  accepted  the  position  of  Principal  of  the  Tus  - 
kegee  Normal  School,  which  he  has  held  with  a 
remarkable  degree  of  success  and  honor  to  himself 
and  his  race.  The  school  is  now  in  a  flourishing 
condition  and  doing  much  good  throughout  the 
State  of  Alabama,  and  even  in  other  States. 

Prof.  E.  E.  Smith,  a  native  North  Carolinian,  and 
a  young  man  of  the. post-bellum  school,  has  quickly 
risen  to  fame  by  an  appointment  under  President 
Cleveland  as  Minister  of  the  U.  S.  Government  to 
the  Republic  of  Liberia.  Mr.  Smith  served  in  this 
position  for  four  years  with  honor  and  credit  to 
himself  and  his  country.  Prior  to  his  appointment  as 
Minister  to  Liberia  he  was  the  worthy  Principal  of 
the  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  Normal  School.  He  is  a  grad- 
uate of  the  famous  Shaw  University,  and  destined  to 
reflect  still  greater  honors  on  this  his  Alma  Mater. 


Negro  Race  in  America. 


177 


J.  C.  PRICE. 


Dr.  J.  C.  Price,  D.  D.,  the  well  known  temperance 
orator,  lives  in  the  hearts  of  many  people.  His 
clear  and  distinct  voice,  fascinating  manner  and 
excellent  ability  to  handle  a  story,  gives  him  a 
hearty  welcome  in  every  place  to  which  he  goes. 
He  was  the  first  colored  preacher  to  stand  in  the 
12 


178  A  School  History  of  the 

pulpit  of  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  and  now  with  the 
sympathy  and  love  of  a  parent  for  his  pupils,  he 
with  honor  holds  the  position  of  President  of  Liv- ' 
ingston  College,  North  Carolina.     He  is  a  native 
of  North  Carolina. 

EDMONIA    LEWIS.   '• 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  by  the  diligent  use  of 
the  powers  God  gave  her,  has  done  much  to  demon- 
strate to  the  world  what  genius  exists  in  the  race 
she  represents.  Left  an  orphan  in  early  life,  she 
was  not  educated  according  to  her  desire,  but  was 
conscious  of  a  power  and  a  burning  desire  to  make 
herself  felt  in  the  world. 

Her  first  visit  to  Boston  proved  the  turning  point 
in  her  life.  When  she  for  the  first  time  saw  the 
statute  of  Franklin,  her  soul  was  touched.  While 
the  dull  stone  seemed  cold  to  others,  there  was  a 
chord  in  her  young  soul  which  the  cold  lineaments 
played  upon,  and  she  exclaimed  exultingly,  "lean 
make  a  stone  man."  Win.  Lloyd  Garrison,  always 
ready  to  help  the  race,  introduced  her  to  a  leading 
Boston  sculptor.  He  gave  her  some  clay  and  a 
model  of  a  human  foot,  saying,  "Go  home  and 
make  that ;  if  there  is  anything  in  you  it  will  come 
out."     Her  first   effort   was   brought  back  to   the 


Negro  Race  in   America.  179 

teacher,  who  examined  it,  then  broke  it  to  pieces 
telling  her  to  try  again.  She  did  so,  and  succeeded. 
Her  achievements  since  have  placed  her  among  the 
prominent  artists  of  the  world.  She  now  resides 
at  Rome,  where  her  studio  is  the  famed  resort  of 
art  lovers  the  world  over.  Some  of  her  works  are, 
busts  of  Chas.  Sumner,  Lincoln,  Hiawatha's  Wooing, 
Forever  Free,  Hagar  in  the  Wilderness,  Madonna, 
with  infant  Christ  and  two  adoring  Angels.  She 
was  patronized  by  the  leading  Englishmen,  such 
as  Disraeli  and  others. 

T.  T.  Fortune,  Esq.,  the  well  known  and  fear- 
less editor,  was  also  a  slave,  born  of  slave  parents 
in  Florida.  He  is  a  deep  thinker  and  an  enthusi- 
astic and  true  worker  for  his  race.  A  great  agita- 
tor and  denouncer  of  the  wrong  and  encourager  of 
the  right,  also  an  author  and  pamphleteer. 

Rev.  W.  J.  Simmons,  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  was, 
beyond  question,  one  of  the  strongest  characters  of 
the  race.  He  was  the  President  of  the  Normal  and 
Theological  Institute  at  Louisville,  Ky.  At  one 
time  he  was  editor  of  the  American  Baptist,  and 
did  a  telling  work  in  that  position  by  his  strong 
editorials  and  telliug  points  in  behalf  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  race.  But  Rev.  Simmons  is  better 
known   as   an   educator.     He   took   charge   of  the 


1 80  A  School  History  of  the 

Institute  at  Louisville  when  nothing  but  failure 
seemed  to  stare  it  in  the  face;  and  from  an  appear- 
ance of  hopeless  ruin  he  has  worked  it  up  to  a 
point  of  great  excellency.  It  now  stands  as  one  of 
the  most  important  factors  of  Negro  education  in 
the  South,  and  its  success  is  due  to  the  indomita- 
ble energy,  force  and  brain  of  Dr.  Simmons.  He 
has  also  furnished  the  literature  of  the  race  with  a 
valuable  work  known  as  "  Men  of  Mark."  In  it 
you  will  be  pleased  to  read  elegant  sketches  of 
many  of  the  race's  best  men. 

The  Hon.  H.  P.  Cheatham  is  a  son  of  Shaw  Univer- 
sity, and  a  young  man  whose  success  is  due  to  emanci- 
pation. He  is  now  one  of  the  colored  members  of 
our  National  Congress,  having  won  his  seat,  through 
a  most  desperate  contest,  for  the  Second  District 
of  North  Carolina.  His  record  in  Congress  is 
good;  not  so  much  known,  however,  for  his 
"much  speaking,''  as  for  the  devotion  he  shows  to 
the  interests  of  his  race.  Mr.  Cheatham  came 
up  from  the  ranks  of  the  school  teachers,  leaving 
off  that  work  to  take  a  position  as  Register  of 
Deeds  in  his  (Vance)  county,  which  position  he 
held  creditably  for  a  number  of  years,  and  which 
he  resigned  to  run  for  Congress  in  iJ 


Negro  Race  in  America. 


IOI 


\    *1 


JOHN  R.  LYNCH. 


Hon.  John  R.  Lynch  is  another  son  of  whom  we 
may  be  prond.  He  hid  not  his  talents,  but  rather 
multiplied  them.  It  was  his  honor  to  preside  at 
the  National  Republican  Convention  in  1884  at 
Chicago.  We  know  him  as  orator,  lawyer,  Con- 
gressman and  prominent  politician. 

Among  the  Noted  Singers  should  be  mentioned 
Madame  Selika,  "the  colored  Jenny  Lind."  Her 
voice  is,  perhaps,  sweeter  than  the  renowned  Jenny 
Lind  (white),  and  capable  of  greater  variation 
in  length  and  pitch.     Madame  Selika  stands  as  a 


1 82  A  School  History  of  the 

prodigy  among  singers.  She  would  stand  near  the 
head  of  modern  female  voices  were  it  not  that  she 
is  colored. 

Mrs.  Francis  Ellen  Harper,  a  native  of  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  was  denied  the  opportunities  of  an  educa- 
tion in  her  early  days,  but  as  soon  as  the  way  was 
opened  she  applied  herself  with  such  energy  and 
earnestness  as  to  develope  her  rare  intellectual 
abilities  and  put  her  before  the  world  as  a  grand, 
good  woman.  She  is  known  as  an  entertaining 
lecturer  and  pleasing  essayist. 

Miss  Flora  Batson  Bergen  is  another  representa- 
tive of  the  art  of  song.  The  wonder  is  that  she 
renders  the  most  difficult  classical  music  from 
memory,  being  unable  to  read  notes.  She  is  an 
undoubted  genius. 

Miss  H.  Q.  Brown  stands  high  as  an  elocutionist 
and  reader  of  wonderful  force  and  descriptive 
powers. 


Negro  Race  in  America. 


183 


BLIND  TOM. 


"Blind  Tom,"  the  Negro  Musical  Prodigy,  is  known 
as  well  in  Bnrope  as  America.  His  correct  name 
is  Thomas  Bethune.  He  was  born  May  25,  1849, 
at  Columbus,  Georgia.  When  a  babe  he  seemed 
totally  blind,  but  in  later  years  he  could  see  a 
little.  His  memory  of  dates,  persons  and  places 
seems  almost  perfect.  Shake  his  hand  to-day 
and  speak  to  him,  tell  your  name,  and  ten  years 
after  he  will  recall  your  voice  and  name.  He  is 
uniformly  and  studiously  polite,  and  entertains  the 
highest  regard  for  truth   in  all  things.     At  four 


184  A  School  History  of  the 

3^ears  of  age  he  found  his  way  to  his  master's  piano 
for  the  first  time.  He  had  attempted  to  use  his 
voice  in  imitating  the  piano  and  other  sounds  before 
this.  He  imitated  all  the  sounds  he  knew  on  the 
piano,  and  when  his  supply  was  exhausted  he 
began  to  compose  for  himself.  He  would  play,  as 
he  would  remark,  " what  the  wind  said"  or  the 
" birds  said"  or  the  "trees  said."  When  five  years 
old,  during  a  thunder-storm  he  composed  his  "Rain 
Storm"  which  is  so  true  to  Nature  that  one 
imagines  on  hearing  it  that  he  can  hear  the  thunder 
roar,  and  "looks  for  the  lightning  to  flash."  One 
author  says  of  him  :  "I  can't  teach  him  anything; 
he  knows  more  of  music  than  we  know  or  can 
know.  We  can  learn  all  that  great  genius  can 
reduce  to  rule  and  put  in  tangible  form ;  he  knows 
more  than  that.  I  do  not  even  know  what  it  is ; 
but  I  feel  it  is  something  beyond  my  comprehen- 
sion. All  that  can  be  done  for  him  will  be  to  let 
him  hear  fine  playing;  he  will  work  it  all  out  for 
himself  after  a  while." 

He  plays  the  most  difficult  classical  music  of 
Mendelssohn  and  Bethoven,  and  cannot  read  a 
note.  His  marches  include  "Delta  Kappa  Kpsilon," 
by  Peace;  "Grand  March  de  Concert,"  by  Wal- 
lace. He  imitates  as  perfectly  as  if  natural,"  Bat- 
tle   of    Manassas,"    "  Douglass'    Speech,*'    guitar, 


Negro  Race  in  America.  185 

banjo,  church  organ,  Dutch  woman  and  hand- 
organ,  a  harp,  Scotch  bagpipe,  and  a  music-box — 
all  on  the  piano.  His  equal,  if  it]ever  existed  in  the 
world,  has  not  been  known.  He  stands  out  as  a 
phenomenon,  a  genius,  a  prodigy  in  black.  He 
still  lives,  and  is  constantly  improving  and  adding 
to  his  large  stock  of  musical  achievements. 


1 86  A  School  History  of  the 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE   FREE   PEOPLE    OF    COLOR    IN   NORTH 
CAROLINA. 

BY   THE    HON   JOHN    S.    LEARY. 

In  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  enlisted 
as  soldiers  in  the  American  army  quite  a  number 
of  colored  men  who  served  faithfully  and  fought 
gallantly  for  the  cause  of  American  Independence. 
Among  others  who  enlisted  from  North  Carolina, 
were  Louie  Revels,  John  Lomax,  Thomas  Bell, 
Charles  Hood  and  John  Pettiford.  All  of  these 
surviving  the  contest,  drew  as  long  as  they  lived 
a  pension  from  the  United  States  Government. 
When  the  Congress  of  freemen  (freeholders) 
assembled  at  Halifax,  and  on  the  18th  day  of 
December,  1776,  ratified  a  Constitution  for  North 
Carolina,  the  elective  franchise  was  extended  to 
every  freeman  residing  in  the  State  who  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  had  paid  a  public  tax. 
Under  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  all  free 
colored  persons  living  in  North  Carolina,  who  were 
twenty -one  years  of  age  and  had  paid  a  public  tax, 
claimed  and  exercised  the  right  to  vote  until  the 


Negro  Race  in  America.  187 

year  1835,  a  period  of  more  than  a  half  century, 
when  the  Convention  which  assembled  that  year, 
acting  on  the  principle  that  might  makes  right, 
adopted  an  amended  Constitution  which  barred 
them  of  that  right.  Having  been  barred  of  the 
right  to  vote  by  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
of  1835,  in  the  year  1838  the  question  as  to 
whether  they  were  or  were  not  citizens  coming 
before  the  State  Supreme  Court,  the  following 
extract  from  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  delivered  by 
Gaston,  Judge,  will  show  that  the  Court  decided  that 
they  were  citizens : 

"  Whatever  distinctions  may  have  existed  in  the 
Roman  law  between  citizens  and  free  inhabitants, 
they  are  unknown  to  our  institutions.  Before  our 
Revolution  all  free  persons  born  within  the  domin- 
ion of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  whatever  their 
color  or  complexion,  were  native-born  British  sub- 
jects— those  born  out  of  his  allegiance  were  aliens. 
Slavery  did  not  exist  in  England,  but  it  did  exist 
in  the  British  Colonies.  Slaves  were  not,  in  legal 
parlance,  persons,  but  property.  The  moment  the 
incapacity — or  disqualification — of  slavery  was  re- 
moved, they  became  persons,  and  were  then  either 
British  subjects  or  not  British  subjects,  according  as 
they  were  or  were  not  born  within  the  allegiance  of  the 
British  King.     Upon  the  close  of  the  Revolution  no 


1 88  A  School  History  of  the 

other  change  took  place  in  the  law  of  North  Caro- 
lina than  was  consequent  upon  the  transition  from 
a  colony  dependent  on  an  European  king  to  a  free 
and  sovereign  State.  Slaves  remained  slaves. 
British  subjects  in  North  Carolina  became  North 
Carolina  freemen.  Foreigners,  until  made  mem- 
bers of  the  State,  continued  aliens.  Slaves  manu- 
mitted here  became  freemen — and,  therefore,  if  born 
within  North  Carolina,  are  citizens  of  North  Caro- 
lina— and  all  free  persons  born  within  the  State 
are  born  citizens  of  the  State." 

However,  under  the  provisions  of  the  amended 
Constitution,  and  the  laws  enacted  subsequent  to 
its  ratification  by  the  Legislature,  there  existed  in 
North  Carolina  prior  to  the  year  1865  three  dis- 
tinct classes  of  people:  The  free  white  man,  enjoy- 
ing and  exercising  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
an  American  citizen;  the  free  colored  man,  deprived 
of  nearly  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  Amer- 
ican citizen ;  and  the  colored  slave  who,  in  legal 
parlance,  was  a  mere  chattel.  Owing  to  this 
anomalous  state  of  affairs,  whatever  was  accom- 
plished by  the  genius,  industry,  effort,  culture  and 
literary  attainments  of  the  colored  American  resid- 
ing in  the  State,  was  studiously  ignored  and  cast 
aside  as  not  worthy  to  be  recorded  as  a  part  and 
parcel  of  the  history  of  the  people  of  the  State. 


Negro  Race  in  America.  189 

To  preserve  the  memory,  as  well  as  to  perpetuate 
the  work  and  worth  of  a  very  eminent  colored 
citizen  of  North  Carolina,  I  here  present  for  the 
information  of  the  youths,  and  all  other  persons 
who  do  not  know  anything  of  the  history  of  his 
life,  a  biographical  narrative  of  the  Rev.  John 
Chavers.  This  gentleman,  a  regularly  ordained 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  came  to 
the  United  States  in  the  year  1822.  He  set- 
tled in  North  Carolina,  and  after  remaining  here 
for  the  period  of  time  required  by  law,  was  natural- 
ized and  became  a  citizen  of  the  State  and  United 
States.  In  culture  and  literary  attainments  he 
far  excelled  a  majority  of  all  classes  of  the  people 
living  in  the  State  at  that  day  and  date.  A  Chris- 
tain  gentleman,  possessing  all  the  qualities  which 
go  to  make  a  true  and  noble  man,  he  was  honored 
for  his  eminent  ability  and  respected  for  his 
Christian  character.  He  lived  in  the  town  of 
Fayette ville  for  a  period  of  two  years,  preached  and 
taught  school.  He  removed  from  Fayetteville, 
and  afterwards  lived  respectively  in  the  counties 
of  Franklin,  Wake  and  Chatham,  in  each  of  which 
he  preached  and  taught  school.  The  school  organ- 
ized and  taught  by  him  in  Chatham  County  was 
patronized  almost  exclusively  by  the  white  people. 
In  the  light  of  present  surroundings,  it  may  seem 


190  A  School  History  of  the 

j. 
strange    and  incredulous    that  the  white  people  of 

North  Carolina  would  send  their  children  to  a  col- 
ored school  teacher  and  consent  to  have  their  lives 
and  characters  shaped  and  moulded  by  him,  but 
this  is  accounted  for  in  the  fact  that  the  recorded 
history  of  those  times  goes  to  show  that  classical 
scholars  and  thoroughly  equipped  school  teachers 
were  not  near  so  plentiful  among  the  white  people 
then  as  they  are  now,  and  they  were  not  so  very 
particular  as  to  the  color  of  the  "  Gamaliel "  at 
whose  feet  their  children  should  sit,  provided  he 
had  the  ability  and  learning  to  impart  the  desired 
information.  As  evidence  of  this  gentleman's  emi- 
nence as  an  instructor,  and  the  influence  which  his 
precept  and  example  had  upon  the  lives  and  char- 
acter of  his  pupils,  I  mention  the  names  of  a  few 
who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his 
instruction  and  careful  training.  The  late  Honor- 
able Kenneth  Rayner,  one  of  his  pupils,  was  well 
known  to  the  people  of  North  Carolina  as  an  emi- 
nent lawyer,  and,  before  the  civil  war,  as  a  Repre- 
sentative from  North  Carolina  in  the  United  States 
Congress,  and  after  said  war  was  the  able  and  efficient 
Solicitor  General  cf  the  United  States  Treasury 
under  President  Arthur's  administration.  Mr. 
Thomas  J.  Curtis,  a  successful  business  man,  and 
for  several  years  Mayor  of  the  town  of  Fayetteville, 


Negro  Race  in  America.  191 

was  another,  and  yet  another  was  the  late  Honor- 
able Abram  Reneher,  of  Chatham  County,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  the  State 
has  ever  produced.  There  were  a  great  many 
others,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention  by  name 
any  more.  These  are  enough  to  show  that  if  jus- 
tice had  been  done,  this  illustrious  colored  gentle- 
man would  have  had  a  place  in  the  recorded  history 
of  the  State  of  his  adoption  as  one  of  her  earliest, 
most  successful  educators  and  eminent  men. 


192  School  History  of  the  Negro  Race. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

CONCLUSION. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  Negro  has  been  a 
success  in  every  avenue  of  life.  As  a  soldier  and 
citizen  he  has  always  been  faithful  to  his  country's 
flag;  as  a  politician  he  has  filled  successfully  many 
honorable  positions,  from  that  of  a  Town  Constable 
to  the  Registry  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States ;  he  has  been  a  legislator,  a  senator,  a  judge, 
a  lawyer,  a  juror,  a  shrewd  business  man,  and  won 
honor,  respect  and  confidence  in  every  such  posi- 
tion, and  all  this  in  twenty-five  years.  Every  sort 
of  hindrance  has  been  thrown  in  his  way,  but  he 
is  overcoming  them  all,  and  daily  winning  friends 
from  the  ranks  of  those  most  opposed  to  his  prog- 
ress. Time  is  yet  to  bring  forth  better  things  for 
the  race.  Let  there  be  patience  and  an  honest, 
persistent  endeavor  to  do  the  very  best  in  every- 
thing, and  ere  long  we  shall  "reap  if  we  faint  not." 
We  shall  rise,  not  by  dragging  others  down,  but  by 
encouraging" those  who  are  up  to  extend  down  to 
us  the  helping  hand,  which  we  must  quickly  grasp, 
and  by  its  help  lift  ourselves  up. 


»  * 


